Vatican Is Introducing Portal as One-Stop Information Site

Published: 28 June 2011 y., Tuesday

The Vatican is leaping into the world of new media with the introduction this week of a news information portal that Pope Benedict XVI himself may put online with a click.

Vatican officials said on Saturday that Pope Benedict had been following the development of the portal, which will for the first time aggregate information from the Vatican’s various print, online, radio and television media in a one-stop shop for news about the Holy See.

It is the latest effort by the Vatican to bring its evangelizing message to an Internet-using audience and follows its ventures into Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The portal is also a significant step for the 84-year-old pope, who has been bedeviled by communications problems during much of his six-year papacy, many of them the fault of a large Vatican bureaucracy that does not always communicate well internally.

The portal, www.news.va, is to be introduced on Wednesday, the 60th anniversary of Pope Benedict’s ordination as a priest and a feast day in the church.

Msgr. Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican office that developed the portal and will maintain it, said Pope Benedict may put the site online himself with a click from the Apostolic Palace.

While the portal is intended mostly to provide Vatican news in an easy-to-use setting for the outside world, Monsignor Celli says he hopes it will also improve the Vatican’s internal communications by letting various departments know what one another are doing and help provide a more coherent message.

Previously, popes have been very much involved in the Vatican’s communications efforts: Pope John Paul II oversaw the 1995 introduction of www.vatican.va — the Vatican’s home page. That site will remain as the Holy See’s main home page and documentation warehouse. And each of the Vatican media that are represented on the news portal will retain their independent sites: Vatican Radio, the newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Television Center, the Vatican press office and information service and the Fides missionary news agency.

The portal will aggregate their main news, initially in English and Italian, then in other languages, and will be updated three times a day, Monsignor Celli said. The portal is outfitted for live-streaming of papal events, audio feeds from Vatican Radio, photographs from L’Osservatore Romano and printed texts of papal homilies, statements and speeches.

It is also equipped to be social-media friendly, with Twitter feeds and Facebook links — a result of the Vatican’s recent realization that it can reach a wide new audience by interacting with the outside world rather than merely preaching from afar.

The portal contains no search functions, nor does it offer an obvious link to the Vatican’s main home page, but those may come in an update, officials said.

Šaltinis: nytimes.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

Related videos

05/02/2014

Padėkime augti

Meet Kate Middleton, the doll

Fit for royalty -- a limited edition Kate Middleton doll goes on sale in the United States. more »

You don't look a day over... 114

The world's oldest man celebrates his 114th birthday in Japan. more »

Nordic and Asian nations connected for growth, says WEF

Sweden and Singapore are the most competitive countries in the digital economy, according to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF). more »

Branson sinks into new adventure

Sir Richard Branson announces plans to pilot a small submarine to the furthest reaches of the ocean floor in an attempt to set a record. more »

Da Vinci robot does more than mere surgery

The Da Vinci surgical robot has gained a reputation as an indispensable tool for surgeons performing delicate surgical procedures. more »

More Than a Cyber Café

Biz Café – a concept targeted towards the jet–set workaholics who need gadget ready environments even while relaxing with a cup of coffee. more »

Lamborghini owner destroys car

A disgruntled owner smashes his luxury supercar in protest after experiencing continual maintenance problems. more »

The Queen of Royal souvenirs

Fom tea towels to slippers, a British grandmother has collected some 10,000 items of royal memorabilia. is being crowned the Queen of royal memorabilia. more »

Rio has a doggedly good time

Dog owners dress up their pets during Brazil's annual dog carnival. more »

Rio gets ready to party

Samba schools are getting their costumes and floats ready for Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. more »