The Pope takes to Twitter to save lent

Pope Benedict XVI is bringing a segment of his daily papal message to Twitter, beginning Ash Wednesday, February 22, according to a Vatican Radio blog post.

In its post, the Vatican says that while some Catholics view Lent as a time to volunteer, give something up or study the Bible, others have abandoned the season:

“In our increasingly secular societies, many young people no longer keep the Lenten season in any special way – that’s why the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has come up with a new idea to focus hearts and minds on the challenges contained in Pope Benedict’s Lenten message for 2012.

‘Starting on Ash Wednesday, themes from that papal message will be posted on Twitter each day during Lent and over the coming months other papal speeches and documents are likely to be tweeted in a similar way, hoping to attract the media-savvy generation and entice them to find out more.’”

In other words, the Pope is hoping the Vatican’s Twitter presence can attract those who are not currently engaged with religion.

Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, says Twitter is the ideal medium for religious messages because “many of the key Gospel ideas are readily rendered in 140 characters.”

The Pope’s relationship with social media has been mixed. The Vatican has launched a YouTube Channel, iPhone app and web portal during Benedict XVI’s papacy.

While he is on Twitter, and recently lit a Christmas tree using an Android tablet, the Pope also issued a statement asking social media to quieten down, in favor of listening.

Source: Mashable by Zoe Fox