Pope Ratzinger was the first pontiff to land on social media; Pope Francis the first to arrive on Instagram and define the Internet as “a gift from God”. But (as we know) it was Pope Wojtyla who gave the green light to the Vatican website as early as 1995.
At the time it was said that the pontiff looked at this new technology with curiosity and great caution. But a few years later, on May 12, 2002on the occasion of the 36th World Communications Day, the Pope signed a historical text that in fact invited the whole Catholic community to inhabit the Web by bringing the word of God. Title: Internet. A new forum for proclaiming the Gospel.
The Pope wrote: “The Internet is certainly a new forum, in the sense attributed to this term in ancient Rome … This also applies to cyberspace, which is a new frontier that opens at the beginning of this millennium. Like the new frontiers of other eras, this too is a mixture of dangers and promises, not without that sense of adventure that has characterized other great periods of change. For the Church, the new world of cyberspace urges the great adventure to use its potential to announce the Gospel message. This challenge is the essence of the meaning which, at the beginning of the millennium, the following of Christ and his mandate Put out into the deep: Duc in altum!”.
And then: “The Church approaches this medium with realism and trust … the Internet can offer magnificent opportunities for evangelization if used with competence and with a clear awareness of his strengths and his weaknesses. Above all, by offering information and arousing interest, it makes a first encounter with the Christian message possible, especially for young people who increasingly use cyberspace as a window to the world ”.
A great opening, but not without risks: “Nonetheless, some necessary, even obvious, questions emerge in the use of the Internet for the cause of evangelization. Indeed, the essential feature of the Internet it consists of providing an almost infinite flow of information, much of which lasts only a moment. In a culture that feeds on the ephemeral, one can easily run the risk of believing that facts rather than values matter. The Internet offers many concepts, but it does not teach values and when these are neglected, our own humanity is diminished and man easily loses sight of his dignity transcendent. Despite its enormous potential for good, some degrading and harmful ways of using the Internet are known to all and public authorities certainly have a responsibility to ensure that this wonderful tool serves the common good and does not become harmful ”. He said that’s right, the Pope: “wonderful instrument”.