Pope Benedict says to priests: Go forth and blog

Pope Benedict says to priests: Go forth and blog. Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog. The pope, who has his own web presence which he slowly built in recent years, has urged priests to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures.

Using e-mail or surfing the Web is now not enough, Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Pope Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican. As per the Pope:

"The spread of multimedia communications and its rich 'menu of options' might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web," but priests are "challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources,"

“A presence on the Web, precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, nonbelievers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute.”

The message, prepared for the World Day of Communications, suggests such possibilities as images, videos, animated features, blogs, and Web sites. Young priests should become familiar with new media while still in seminary, though the pope stressed that the use of new technologies must reflect theological and spiritual principles.

The 82-year-old pope has often been wary of new media, warning about what he has called the tendency of entertainment media, to be used negatively, he has also praised new ways of communicating as a "gift to humanity" when used to foster friendship and understanding. The Vatican has tried hard to keep up to speed with the rapidly changing field. Last year it opened a YouTube channel as well as a portal dedicated to the pope.

No doubt, young priests will have no trouble following the pope's message, but what about the older ones? Would you engage in such a medium if it were here in our own country if there is a preacher or a priest who takes advantage of this medium?