Speaking of harnessing the beauty of the Catholic faith…the Vatican just did a little harnessing themselves and to one of the most beautiful beauties in the world: The Sistine Chapel.

That’s right. This great world wonder and treasure of the Church has gone web 2.0 with a virtual tour. This new, interactive website allows you to explore just about every inch of the Sistine Chapel in fairly decent detail.

I’ve yet to visit the Sistine Chapel in person. I hope to one day, of course! But this gave me a neat little preview. And if you’ve been before, I’m sure it will help jog your memory and likely show you some things you probably missed as a tourist.

Check it out here. It might take a minute to fully load on your computer, but it’s worth the wait.

3 things I like about this project:

1) No words. It just lets the beauty of this amazing work of art and architecture speak for itself.

2) The Vatican did it. This kind of leadership in new media can uniquely inspire the Church faithful in ways that only our apostolic leadership can inspire.

3) Collaboration. What I like most about this project is the collaboration involved in getting it done. The Vatican teamed up with Villanova University to make this happen.

What other ways can the rest of us team up and help our leadership in Rome accomplish big things like this? The Church is filled with (the Holy Spirit and) all of the talent and resources we could ever need to accomplish anything we can dream up. We just have to start sharing it with each other more effectively and bringing the right groups of people together.

What are some ways that your organization or group can contribute to a parish or diocesan project? Or to Rome? What are you waiting for?