(ANS – Rome) – Opportunities have multiplied on the Web today for communicating the Faith, witnessing to Christian hope, facilitating religious practice. The Holy Father's Message for the 47th World Communications Day seems to encourage such initiatives.

“In the digital world there are social networks which offer our contemporaries opportunities for prayer, meditation and sharing the word of God. – the Pope says in his Message - Many people are actually discovering, precisely thanks to a contact initially made online, the importance of direct encounters, experiences of community and even pilgrimage, elements which are always important in the journey of faith”.

Yesterday, on the Feast of St Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, “CurasOnline” was launched in Spain. It is a website linked to various social media channels allowing one to follow various digital activities by Catholic priests on the Internet.

Through Twitter, Facebook or YouTube, CurasOnline collects messages sent through the web by hundreds of priests, diocesan or from religious congregations, giving them a much broader audience. Users who subscribe to CurasOnline channels receive content that might otherwise be lost on the Web. CurasOnline currently involves 400 priests who broadcast their suggestions for Christian life, talk about their projects, their life and vocation and bring the Gospel message to the “digital continent” (two billion people at least).

In India another interesting initiative of the kind has been launched by a young Salesian in formation, Leon Cruz, sdb, from India-Mumbai. The faithline site permits users to find safe and easily available spiritual guidance. The homepage offers a team of priests and sisters, experts in youth ministry and pastoral care of souls, and a young person may turn to them to receive advice on Christian life, clarify doubts, seek direction…

The site offers guidance from a spiritual father or mother, but going well beyond geographical boundaries. To overcome any embarrassment users might have, some questions are initially asked of the intending user. Responses in the early days of this site have been very positive.

Faithful to what Don Bosco himself indicated when he recommended that his spiritual sons: “Love what the young love, so the young will love what you love”, Salesians have, over time, become involved and present in the digital continent.

It would be worth recording, for example, in the early days of December 2012 the launching of the “E-Devotion” site, a digital space for encouraging prayer especially in a typical Salesian style, along with reflections and spiritual suggestions, indications for Christian living… It is an initiative launched by sdb.org and immediately appreciated by many.

Along similar lines in recent months the Social Communication Department has promoted the iBreviary App with the Salesian Liturgical Proper, available for Android, IOS and Kindle.

Published 25/01/2013