Okay all you “loyal” readers and friends, which one of you ratted me out to the pope? Apparently he doesn’t approve of my “friend-collecting” habits on Facebook. I wonder if the Vatican set up a webcam on my desk. Of course, it’s cluttered with so many books and magazines, I’d never find it anyway. Would he judge me if he knew I got “friended” by “Jesus Nazareth” the other day? Seriously, Jesus wrote on my wall that he reads Beyond Blue and likes it! Here’s what the dear old man in charge of the Church says about Facebook, published in a letter called “New Technologies, New Relationships. Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship”:

The concept of friendship has enjoyed a renewed prominence in the vocabulary of the new digital social networks that have emerged in the last few years. The concept is one of the noblest achievements of human culture. … We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialise the concept or the experience of friendship. It would be sad if our desire to sustain and develop on-line friendships were to be at the cost of our availability to engage with our families, our neighbours and those we meet in the daily reality of our places of work, education and recreation. If the desire for virtual connectedness becomes obsessive, it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development.

Oh, speaking of new technologies, check out the Vatican YouTube Channel!

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