Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Pope struggling with Twitter: 5 considerations for @pontifex

Friday, December 21st, 2012
John Murphy together

On December 12, Pope Benedict, like no other pope, opened himself up to the world on Twitter. Twitter is a disruptive technology; it challenges, changes and threatens. Introducing the pope to Twitter was always likely to involve some risk. But, however, we are told the Vatican understands the risk and remains hopeful the involvement on Read more

60 percent of Pacific Islanders have access to a mobile phone

Friday, December 14th, 2012

Sixty percent of Pacific islanders have access to a mobile phone. Almost a million are Facebook users. As mobile phone use sweeps through the Pacific it is bringing a revolution of change in its wake. “In PNG in April social media brought together thousands of people for a political protest. Islanders have become more literate, more familiar with market prices Read more

Most ‘liked’ Catholic figure in social media to get a red hat

Friday, November 23rd, 2012

Who is global Catholicism’s most “liked” figure in social media? According to Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo, he’s Cardinal-designate Luis Tagle of Manila in the Philippines. The 55-year-old Archbishop of Manila, who will receive his red hat from Pope Benedict XVI on November 24, has a Facebook page with 100,000 fans and his YouTube commentaries on Read more

Vietnam sentences Christian bloggers for ‘spreading propaganda’

Tuesday, September 25th, 2012

The People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced three Christian bloggers on Monday in a case that has drawn international criticism. A report by UCA News said the bloggers were charged with spreading anti-government propaganda under Article 88 of the country’s criminal code. The three are founding members of the Free Journalist Club, an Read more

Pope Benedict in digital difficulty

Friday, September 14th, 2012

An Italian company “Reputation Manager” has published a study claiming to show that Pope Benedict is having difficulty on the Web getting his message across. The study, published on “Expansion”, shows that unlike the Dalai Lama, almost half of the Holy Father’s online content has a ‘negative tone’ and a ‘prejudicial impact’. The research was Read more

Twitter: Christian evangelisers punch well above their weight

Monday, June 4th, 2012

When a Twitter staff member set out to answer that question 10 months ago, he thought the answer would emerge among posts from N.B.A. players, politicians or actors. Instead, he found a mystery: a set of messages that were ricocheting around Twitter, being forwarded and responded to at a rate that was off the charts. Read more

Twitter dynamos, offering Word of God’s love

Saturday, June 2nd, 2012

When a Twitter staff member set out to answer that question 10 months ago, he thought the answer would emerge among posts from N.B.A. players, politicians or actors. Instead, he found a mystery: a set of messages that were ricocheting around Twitter, being forwarded and responded to at a rate that was off the charts. Read more

Facebook vicar: Gin, sin, the F word and no religion too

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

A British Canon, Rev Paul Shakerley, has apologised for the rather unholy language he placed on his Facebook page. Peter Burrows, bishop of Doncaster, met with Shakerley and said the Canon regretted the language and had removed the entry on Facebook. “Whilst meant in a jocular sense, he recognizes that some of the language was Read more

Catholic communicators must obey church teaching, US cardinal says

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Church communicators have an important and serious duty to obey church teaching and defend the church’s mission of saving souls and safeguarding truth, said the head of the Vatican’s highest court. Caution as well as control over content and where it’s distributed are needed because while the field of communications “has great potential for good,” Read more

Kuwait passes law requiring death penalty for blasphemy

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Legislators in Kuwait have taken a step further towards restricting Christian rights by voting to make blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad a capital offence. The legal amendment, which still requires final approval by Kuwait’s ruling emir, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabaher, was passed overwhelmingly last week in the 50-seat National Assembly. The vote followed the arrest Read more