Pope takes faith issues to Twitter
2012-12-28 13:05
Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI has galvanised Catholics
at the close of 2012 to go on the offensive over key faith issues, forging new
alliances and fighting secularism in the West with a media campaign.
Damaging sex abuse scandals and growing opposition to the
Church's attitude toward gay marriage and women priests have forced Benedict to
rethink how to communicate with the modern world and stem the flood of
deserting believers.
The 85-year-old pope joined Twitter this month as part of
efforts to disseminate the Catholic message worldwide, which also forced the
professorial pontiff to reduce his usual reams of dense theological reflections
to 140 characters.
The Vatican in June hired American Fox News correspondent
Greg Burke to help modernise its communications strategy and by December
Benedict had sent his first tweet, which went out in eight languages to
thousands of followers.
The pope's tweets of faith may have sparked derision
among some Twitter users, but they brought the Vatican widespread visibility
among the digital generation, which was told that God is not dead but
"knocking at the door”.
The leader of the world's one billion Roman Catholics
also took the unusual step of writing an editorial for Britain's Financial
Times newspaper, urging business and political leaders to adhere to Christian
ethics and moral codes in their daily lives.
Making room for God
Benedict's call to take a stand against what he views as
society's ills - such as consumerism and a wilful disregard of
"traditional" family values - was repeated in his strongly-worded
Christmas message which slammed the selfishness of modernity.
"We want ourselves. We want what we can seize hold
of, we want happiness that is within our reach. We are so 'full' of ourselves
that there is no room left for God. And that means there is no room for others
either," he said.
The pope also began in earnest to follow through with one
of the key ideas of his papacy, calling for dialogue with atheists, agnostics
and others outside the Catholic Church who are nonetheless fighting the same
battles.
In a bid against gay marriage which is gaining ground in
the West, he took the first steps in finding new allies.
With France, Britain and the US soon expected to join a
dozen countries where same-sex couples can legally wed, Benedict reached out to
religious and non-religious people alike who respect what he called the
"law of nature".
Weighing into the heated debate, the pope cited France's
chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, who has spoken out against gay marriage.
Benedict has also mobilised top Catholic figures to beat
the drum on the Church's teachings on social issues, from the family to
homosexuality and abortion.
The Vatican's new guardian of dogma, Germany's Gerhard
Muller, Milan's Archbishop Angelo Scola, and Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the
pope's culture minister who is a keen tweeter, are among those who have gone on
the offensive.
"A small but influential group of bishops has formed
around Benedict XVI and pays a great deal of attention to addressing the
central questions of culture and society with weighty words," Vatican
expert Sandro Magister told AFP.
