The Pope and the Machine: The pontiff's take on tech
January 18, 2015 2:17pm
He's not exactly a tech maven, but Pope Francis is the closest we've ever come to having a geek on the papal throne.
 
At the very least, we have a pope who is willing to work with—if not to embrace in its entirety—emerging technologies, not the least of which are social media. 
 
In this day and age, people have to adapt to the cyberworld or risk being left behind. Perhaps it’s not that surprising that Pope Francis is now making moves to use modern technology to spread the word of God. 
 
In his meeting with Philippine youth on Sunday, January 18, Pope Francis urged the judicious use information technology (IT) lest "the psychology of the computer let us think that we know it all."
 
"Today with so many means of communication, we are overloaded with information. Is that bad? Not necessarily ... It is good and it can help, but there is a real danger of living in a way of accumulating information. We have so much information but maybe we dont know what to do with that information," he said through an interpreter.
 
 
Over a year before, at the annual plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in September 2013, Pope Francis was quoted as saying that the Church must work “with discernment, to use modern technologies and social networks in such a way as to reveal a presence that listens, converses and encourages.”
 
‘Internet a gift from God’
 
Pope Francis has also called the Internet a gift from God, during the Catholic church’s World Communications Day. But he also pointed out that the speed of information dissemination can affect peoples’ reflection and judgment.
 
“The variety of opinions being aired can be seen as helpful, but it also enables people to barricade themselves behind sources of information which only confirm their own wishes and ideas, or political and economic interests,” he said. Pope Francis also added that engaging in open dialogue doesn’t necessarily mean renouncing personal beliefs, but means renouncing the “claim that they alone are valid or absolute.”
 
The Pope on Twitter
 
The pope’s official Twitter account is @Pontifex. Originally created for Pope Benedict XVI, the account was suspended after his resignation. When Bergoglio became Pope Francis, the account was reactivated.
 
 
 
At the beginning of the pope’s pastoral voyage to Asia, he asked for prayers via Twitter.
 
“The internet, in particular, offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity. This is something truly good, a gift from God,” Pope Francis said.
 
For real-time updates about the papal visit, users can also follow @gmanews or follow the hashtags #BlessedByThePope, #PapalVisitPH, and #PopeFrancisPH.
 
Stories are available at GMA News Online’s papal visit microsite and on GMA News' official Facebook account. — with Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News

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