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Vatican embraces social media 'digital missionaries'
Vatican embraces social media 'digital missionaries'

Japan Today

time6 hours ago

  • Entertainment
  • Japan Today

Vatican embraces social media 'digital missionaries'

Pope Leo XIV led the Vatican's first mass for Catholic social media influencers By Lisa Duso, Madeleine De Blic Sister Albertine, a youthful French Catholic nun, stood outside the Vatican, phone in hand, ready to shoot more videos for her hundreds of thousands of followers online. The 29-year-old nun, whose secular name is Albertine Debacker, is one of hundreds of Catholic influencers in Rome for a Vatican-organised social media summit this week. The Vatican calls them "digital missionaries" and -- in an unprecedented move for the centuries-old institution -- Pope Leo XIV led a mass dedicated to them at St Peter's Basilica, calling on them to create content for those who "need to know the Lord". Long wary of social media, the Catholic Church now sees it as a vital tool to spread the faith amid dwindling church attendance. For Sister Albertine, this is the ideal "missionary terrain". Inside the Baroque basilica, she was one of a swarm of religious influencers who surrounded the new pope, live streaming the meeting on their smartphones within one of Christianity's most sacred spots. She said it was highly symbolic that the Vatican organised the event bringing together its Instagramming-disciples. "It tells us: 'it's important, go for it, we're with you and we'll search together how we can take this new evangelisation forward," she told AFP. The influencer summit was held as part of the Vatican's "Jubilee of Youth", as young believers flooded Rome this week. 'The great influencer is God' Sister Albertine has 320,000 followers on Instagram and some of her TikTok videos get more than a million views. She shares a mix of prayers with episodes from daily religious life, often from French abbeys. "You feel alone and I suggest that we can pray together," she said in one video, crossing herself. But, as religious content spreads online in the social media and AI era, one of the reasons behind the Vatican's summit was for it to express its position on the trend. "You are not only influencers, you are missionaries," influential Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle -- one of the few Vatican officials active on social media - told those attending mass. The "great influencer is God", he added. Jesus not a digital programme But Tagle also warned that "Jesus is not a voice generated by a digital programme". Pope Leo called on his online followers to strike a balance at a time when society is "hyperconnected" and "bombarded with images, sometimes false or distorted". "It is not simply a matter of generating content, but of creating an encounter between hearts," said the American pope, 69. It is this balance that has been hard to strike, with some Catholic clerics themselves embracing a social media presence. Father Giuseppe Fusari does not look like a regular priest: wearing tight shirts exposing his arm tattoos. To his 63,000 followers on Instagram, he mixes content about Italian church architecture and preaching. Important we're online, too Fusari told AFP there is no reason Catholic clerics should not embrace the world of online videos. "Everyone uses social media, so it's important that we're there too," said Fusari, who came to Rome for the influencer event from the northern city of Brescia. Fusari said his goal was to reach as many people as possible online, sharing the "word of God" with them. This also takes the form of sharing videos of his chihuahua eating spaghetti. But priests and nuns are not the only ones trying to attract people to the Church online, with regular believers spreading the faith too. Francesca Parisi, a 31-year-old Italian teacher, joined the Catholic Church later in life. She now has some 20,000 followers on TikTok, where she tries to make the Catholic faith look trendy. Her target audience? People who have "drifted away" from the church. It's possible, she said, to lure them back through their smartphones. "If God did it with me, rest assured, he can also do it with you." © 2025 AFP

Watch Pope Leo XIV receive box of Chicago pizza in Vatican City
Watch Pope Leo XIV receive box of Chicago pizza in Vatican City

USA Today

time10 hours ago

  • Business
  • USA Today

Watch Pope Leo XIV receive box of Chicago pizza in Vatican City

Pope Leo XIV received a special delivery en route to St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on July 30. Video footage shows a member of the crowd giving the pontiff, 69, a box from Aurelio's Pizza in Chicago's south suburbs as he arrived in St. Peter's Square in his open-air popemobile for his weekly audience. The gesture appeared to have delighted the pope, who gave a thumbs-up gesture upon receiving the box. According to 6 ABC, the Chicago native was known to frequent the original Homewood location of the restaurant when he was simply known as Father Bob. Although the toppings were not revealed, Joe Aurelio, owner of the pizzeria, announced the new "Poperoni Pizza" in early July, which features traditional pepperoni pizza topped with a layer of cup and crisp pepperoni. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Pizza was from Aurelio's Pizza The pizza delivered to the pope, known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost outside of his papal position, appears to be from Illinois-based Aurelio's Pizza, which was quick to take credit. The pizza joint, which has locations in Illinois, Minnesota, California and Florida, in a post on Facebook, said it was "another blessing to have Pope Leo acknowledge our pizza at St. Peter's Square." Aurelio's also invited the pope to visit them the "next time he is back home" and requested followers to connect them to the person who delivered the pizza about 4,800 miles away so the shop "can personally thank them." Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security and human rights

time18 hours ago

  • Politics

Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security and human rights

ROME -- ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called for a renewed commitment to diplomacy to resolve conflicts as he marked the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, the landmark Cold War-era agreement that ushered in a new era of security and human rights. At the end of his general audience, history's first American pope said that Aug. 1 marks the anniversary of the conclusion of the 35-nation summit in Finland that resulted in the Helsinki Final Act, which years later helped give birth to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Renewing his appeal for peace in the world, Leo said: 'Today, more than ever, it is imperative to cherish the spirit of Helsinki, persevere in dialogue, strengthen cooperation and make diplomacy the preferred way to prevent and resolve conflicts.' At the height of the Cold War detente in the 1970s, Finnish President Urho Kekkonen hosted a U.S.-Soviet summit where U.S. President Gerald Ford, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and others signed a watershed commitment to peace, East-West contacts, European security and human rights. Leo said the agreement had 'inaugurated a new geopolitical season, favoring a rapprochement between East and West. It marked a renewed interest in human rights with particular attention to religious freedom, considered one of the fundamentals of the nascent architecture of cooperation from Vancouver to Vladivostok.' With Russia's war raging in Ukraine, Leo recalled that the Holy See had sent a delegation to the Finnish summit headed by future secretary of state Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, best known for promoting and pursuing a policy of Ostpolitik, or openness and dialogue with Eastern Europe. In other comments Wednesday, Leo also expressed horror at the 'brutal' attack on a Catholic Church in eastern Congo by rebels backed by the Islamic State. At least 38 people, including 15 women and nine children, were killed in the church as they worshipped during a prayer vigil last weekend. 'While I entrust the victims to God's loving mercy, I pray for the wounded and for Christians who around the world continue to suffer violence and persecution, exhorting all those with responsibility at the local and international level to collaborate to prevent similar tragedies,' he said. Wednesday's general audience marked the resumption of Leo's weekly encounter with the faithful following a weeks-long summer break. St. Peter's Square was particularly full, given the arrival of tens of thousands of pilgrims in town for a weeklong Holy Year celebration for young Catholics.

Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security, human rights
Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security, human rights

New Indian Express

timea day ago

  • Politics
  • New Indian Express

Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security, human rights

ROME: Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called for a renewed commitment to diplomacy to resolve conflicts as he marked the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, the landmark Cold War-era agreement that ushered in a new era of security and human rights. At the end of his general audience, history's first American pope said that August 1 marks the anniversary of the conclusion of the 35-nation summit in Finland that resulted in the Helsinki Final Act, which years later helped give birth to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Renewing his appeal for peace in the world, Leo said, "Today, more than ever, it is imperative to cherish the spirit of Helsinki, persevere in dialogue, strengthen cooperation and make diplomacy the preferred way to prevent and resolve conflicts."

Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security, human rights
Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security, human rights

News18

timea day ago

  • Politics
  • News18

Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security, human rights

Rome, Jul 30 (AP) Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called for a renewed commitment to diplomacy to resolve conflicts as he marked the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, the landmark Cold War-era agreement that ushered in a new era of security and human rights. At the end of his general audience, history's first American pope said that August 1 marks the anniversary of the conclusion of the 35-nation summit in Finland that resulted in the Helsinki Final Act, which years later helped give birth to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Renewing his appeal for peace in the world, Leo said: 'Today, more than ever, it is imperative to cherish the spirit of Helsinki, persevere in dialogue, strengthen cooperation and make diplomacy the preferred way to prevent and resolve conflicts." At the height of the Cold War detente in the 1970s, Finnish President Urho Kekkonen hosted a US-Soviet summit where US President Gerald Ford, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and others signed a watershed commitment to peace, East-West contacts, European security and human rights. Leo said the agreement had 'inaugurated a new geopolitical season, favouring a rapprochement between East and West. It marked a renewed interest in human rights with particular attention to religious freedom, considered one of the fundamentals of the nascent architecture of cooperation from Vancouver to Vladivostok." With Russia's war raging in Ukraine, Leo recalled that the Holy See had sent a delegation to the Finnish summit headed by future secretary of state Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, best known for promoting and pursuing a policy of Ostpolitik, or openness and dialogue with Eastern Europe. 'While I entrust the victims to God's loving mercy, I pray for the wounded and for Christians who around the world continue to suffer violence and persecution, exhorting all those with responsibility at the local and international level to collaborate to prevent similar tragedies," he said. Wednesday's general audience marked the resumption of Leo's weekly encounter with the faithful following a weeks-long summer break. St Peter's Square was particularly full, given the arrival of tens of thousands of pilgrims in town for a weeklong Holy Year celebration for young Catholics. (AP) NPK NPK (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 30, 2025, 16:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

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