Pope Benedict XVI is getting his own page on Facebook.
Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, discussed the papal Facebook plans in an interview with Britain’s Sky TV34 news station.
The Facebook initiative is as part of a new Vatican website, www.pope2you.net, that is scheduled to be launched May 24 on World Communications Day.
Called “The Pope Meets You on Facebook,” the new application will allow people to send “virtual postcards” of the Pope with text excerpted from his published remarks, Sky TV reported.
Said Archbishop Celli, “The Pope has a great interest in these things.”
Update: Catholic News Service reports the Pope2You initiative will also include an Apple component.
“The Pope2You site also links viewers to a new way for people to receive news about the Vatican and the Pope through their iPhones or iPod touch portable music players,” CNS reported. “In conjunction with the Vatican Television Center and Vatican Radio, H2Onews will distribute audio and video reports exclusively through the iPhone in eight different languages, including Chinese.”