Evidently, a few scribes bent over their desks in Rome have finally heard about computers, virtual worlds, and the Internet. They’ve dipped their quills into ink and are offering their opinion in an influential Jesuit magazine:

Digital worlds where viewers can interact with each other and create vast social networks carry several risks, but they also might be grounds for evangelization, said an influential Jesuit magazine.

One virtual world called Second Life is gaining such widespread popularity that it is not “possible to turn a blind eye to this phenomenon, or offhandedly pass judgment glorifying it or condemning it,” said La Civilta Cattolica (Catholic Civilization) in an August 4 article released to journalists July 26.

The Rome-based biweekly, reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication, dedicated most of the 13-page article to discussing Second Life. That virtual world, which can be found online at secondlife.com, is entirely created and owned by its more than 8 million residents.

From shopping to chatting to studying university courses, residents also are making room for God and spirituality, said the article written by Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro.

Cathedrals, mosques, synagogues, temples — and even convents and cloisters “with spartan rooms for virtual rent” — are peppered across the user-created world, giving residents a chance to pray alone or with others, it said.

“Virtual churches exist in which it’s possible to find a minister who is able to welcome and strike up a dialogue with whomever enters,” it said.

The popularity of virtual worlds may reflect people’s longing for “another life” and the human need for becoming better people, the article said.

With so many people looking online for meaning beyond the temporal world, the article said, “at heart, the digital world may also be in its own way considered to be mission territories.”

I wonder if the boys over at La Civilta Cattolica caught this item on The Deacon’s Bench a few days ago.