Pope John Paul II sends an e-mail at the Vatican last November. The Pontiff, in his first message sent to the world directly over the internet, apologized to victims of sexual abuse by priests and other clergy.
Jan. 22 — Pope John Paul II, who has avidly used mass media and information technology to get out his message, said Tuesday the Internet offered new opportunities to evangelize but also poses dangers.
IN AN ONLINE message to highlight issues for the Church’s World Communications Day in May, the pope said the cyberspace frontier created similar challenges for spreading Church instruction as previous “threshold moments” in history: the Renaissance, the invention of printing and the Industrial Revolution.
“For the Church, the new world of cyberspace is a summons to the great adventure of using its potential to proclaim the Gospel message,” the pope said in “Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel.”
However, with those opportunities come risks, including the Internet’s notorious ability to spread “degrading and damaging” material, he said.
...
Dr. Alan Cairns | 8/3/2009
