Pope Benedict Blesses the Internet, But Warns of its Ills

Pope Benedict XVI isn’t the world’s most prolific celebrity blogger. In fact, he’s not on Twitter and his Facebook profile is more empty than St. Peter’s Basilica on a Monday. But His Holiness isn’t as out of the Internet loop as you might think (The Vatican does have its own YouTube channel). On Saturday, the Pope took to the airwaves to discuss the spiritual advantages (and shortcomings) of the Internet, and to inspire Internet users to be more conscious of how we connect.

It’s our responsibility to preserve the “quality of human contact, guaranteeing attention to people,” Pope Benedict said at “Digital Witness,” a panel organized by the Italian Episcopal Community.

“The dangers of homologation and control, of intellectual and moral relativism are also increasing, as already recognizable in the decline of critical spirit, in truth reduced to a game of opinions, in the many forms of degradation and humiliation of the intimacy of the person.”

Pope Benedict left room for interpretation during Saturday’s conference, as he refrained from using terminology that could be read as strictly religious. The Internet is for all, Benedict knows, and so are the ideas of goodwill promoted by the Church, if not the more particular prescriptions of Catholicism.

It’s not exactly a controversial sentiment, and it’s one that we can all take to heart when posting a judgmental blog post or comment before we have our facts straight.

Previously, the Pope made his thoughts on the Internet known during World Communications Day last year. "It would be sad if our desire to sustain and develop online friendships were to be at the cost of our availability to engage with our families, our neighbors and those we meet in the daily reality of our places of work, education and recreation,” he said last May.

“Friendship is a great human good, but it would be emptied of its ultimate value if it were to be understood as an end to itself.”

That last sentence, by the way, is under 140 characters. Maybe Pope Benedict should re-think his Twitter policy.

Photo taken by Rob & Lisa Meehan via Wikimedia Commons.