Pope Benedict XVI served the Church during a time of great upheaval and transformation in the field of communications. Most notably, what we now call social media moved rapidly from a novelty to a powerful and wildly popular communication channel.
He approached this new form of media through the World Communication Day messages in an encouraging and inclusive way, launching @pontifex on Twitter and leading by example. He coined the term ‘Digital Continent’ in the 43rd message for World Communications Day, as he encouraged all the faithful, but especially those of us who work to communicate the Gospel, to approach the new media through the lens of our missiology. He called those of us “active in the emerging environment of digital communication” to commit ourselves “to promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship.”
We are grateful God blessed our Church with such a gentle and compassionate shepherd. May his soul rest in the eternal peace of Christ.