Crazy Atheist Libertarian

Facebook & Google teach GOD a few new tricks

Facebook & Google teach Vatican a few new tricks

  Google and Facebook teach Vatican the mysteries of the internet.

Last time I checked I thought the folks at the Vatican hung out with a guy named God who I was told knows everything. If their head honcho knows everything why do they have to learn how to search the internet?


Source

Google and Facebook teach Vatican the mysteries of the internet

By Nick Squires in Rome

Published: 12:25PM GMT 11 Nov 2009

Media experts will join bishops from across Europe to tell them how best to communicate the Catholic Church's message in the 21st century.

Steeped in history, the Church often struggles to explain its outlook and Pope Benedict XVI has in recent months been mired in controversy over remarks about the role condoms can play in halting the spread of Aids and his decision to rehabilitate a Holocaust-denying British bishop.

During a four-day conference which starts on Thursday, representatives from the social network Facebook, the search engine Google, the YouTube video sharing website and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia will explain the importance of "new media" in the lives of young people.

The bishops will also learn how to combat the threat of hacking, with advice from a young hacker from Switzerland and an Interpol expert on cybercrime.

"The world of hackers is a separate, parallel culture that is mostly ignored by the Church but not by fans of information technology," said the Vatican's 'communications ministry', the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is organising the gathering.

The conference is the latest in a series of moves by the Pope, who uses an iPod and a laptop computer, to engage with modern technology.

Source

Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia execs advise Vatican

13th November 2009

Execs from Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia have convened at a four-day conference in the Vatican to give advice on how the Catholic church can convey its message in the digital era. The execs will also offer advice on internet copyright and hacking.

The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe, which organised the event, says engaging with new media is crucial if the church is to remain relevant in people's lives.

Source

Vatican seeks advice from Facebook, YouTube and Co.

The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CEEM) has convened the conference, which includes Internet experts, bishops, a young Swiss hacker and an Interpol cyber-crime official. Of late, Pope Benedikt has been making efforts to update the Church's approach to the Internet, launching a YouTube channel earlier this year.

The cathedral of the 21st century must be built on the Internet, said CEEM President Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco in his opening address at the symposium. The Church must engage with new media, he said, or it risks cutting itself off from a major part of many people's lives.

The Catholic Church has experienced first-hand the downside of the globalized, instantaneous sharing that can take place on the Internet when it faced a wave of criticism for the Vatican's lifting of the excommunication of Holocaust-denier Richard Williamson.

According to di Falco, the Church can better communicate its mission if it takes a more active role in its portrayal through new media. "Media often reduce the Church to the pope and a few cardinals. Even more reason to give bishops, priests and lay people a space on the Internet," he said.

hf/AP/KNA Editor: Susan Houlton

 
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