Pope John Paul II beatification gets Facebook page

Pope John Paul II beatification gets Facebook page

Pope John Paul II will be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on May 1, and Vatican officials want more people to know more about the event by putting up a dedicated Facebook page.

The late pope was a popular figure not only for Catholics but for the rest of the world during his time, and his beatification is expected to draw many visitors to both the Vatican and the Internet through the Facebook page.

Even though the page, which contains video footage from the 27-year papacy of Pope John Paul II, is designed for the beatification rites, church officials said the page may be maintained well beyond May 1.

The Vatican set up a Facebook page for the UK trip of Pope Benedict XVI back in September but the site is still active up to now with up to 15,000 "fans" updating the Facebook page every day, officials said.

While often criticized by some for its outdated teachings, the Roman Catholic Church seems to acknowledge what the Internet and specifically social media can do for its evangelization goals.

This Easter, the Vatican will launch a new web portal with content designed to be easily shared via Twitter and Facebook. It will consolidate the news and information culled by the Holy See's radio, television, print and other media offices.

Pope Benedict VI, like his predecessor Pope John Paul II, is known to be a staunch conservative. But the increasing need to communicate better to members of the Church and the rest of the world amid the scandal abuse and related matters has forced the Vatican to be Internet savvy.

Church officials are continuing to show that with the Facebook page and media spotlight on the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Saturday March 12 2011, 11:41 PM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0