Catholic Fire

August 24, 2013. (Romereports.com) A month after the end of WYD Rio 2013, the event's impact on the Pope's Twitter account is very noticeable. In August, the account @Pontifex grew by more than 585,000 followers . In the months before, the account added an average of 240,000 followers per month. In other words, during the month of August, it grew twice as fast. This month, Pope Francis has issued tweets every other day, and several have been re-tweeted more than 13,000 times.  His Latin profile is perhaps the biggest surprise of all. It grows by 200 followers daily, and is now in s ixth place among the nine official @Pontifex accounts. So far, it has gathered 154,000 followers. That's a striking number, considering that the Vatican expected about 5,000 when they launched the account. In August, Pope Francis' public appearances have trickled down, but not his activity on Twitter. In that time he was tuned in on how to reach the 500-million-strong Twitter unive...

TWITTER @PONTIFEX 06/28/2013 Jesus didn’t save us with an idea. He humbled himself and became a man. The Word became Flesh.

February 28, 2013. (Romereports.com) It was the first time ever a Pope's farewell was televised live. Benedict XVI left his home inside the Vatican joined by cardinals Angelo Comastri and Agostino Vallini. At about 5 p.m., before getting in the car that would take him to the helicopter, he said goodbye to the staff at the Vatican.   At 5:05 p.m., as the bells at St. Peter's Basilica rang out across the Square, the helicopter took off towards Castel Gandolfo. The ride took Benedict XVI across the Eternal City, taking a detour along some of the major landmarks, like the Colosseum and the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Upon arriving at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope was welcomed by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the bishop of Albano, as well as the town mayor. A small caravan took him to the the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo at about 5:30 p.m. Thousands of pilgrims, donned with banners, thank you signs and flags, cheered on the last few words of Benedict XVI as Pope. BENED...

February 20, 2013. (Romereports.com) Ever since Benedict XVI announced his resignation, the most active Catholics online have launched initiatives to show their support. One of them titled “Give Thanks,” an idea from Regnum Christi and the Legion of Christ, to show their support for Benedict XVI through Facebook and Twitter. It allows them to share experiences, videos, photos, and other initiatives to thank him, or even pray for the Pope. Using the hashtag #2BXVI they encourage users to write a message to the Pope on Wednesday, February 20 at 8 p.m. local time in Rome. The organizing group is analyzing the possibility of repeating the virtual event until February 28, the last day of Benedict XVI as Pope.

(Romereports.com) The Pope asked people to be truthful on social networks, spaces he says are most favorable for dialogue. Now, even though sites like Facebook and Twitter were created as communication tools, users say they're not always used as they should be. “Many people use it to flirt, or to give information about their education or where they work, but it's false, and they want to make themselves more important.” “I think this is about anonymity. If they are anonymous, they can take this things without fear of repercussions.” “Whoever knows me knows everything about me. My name is not on there, I have a nickname. Although my birth date is there.” “Maybe they are addicted to the social network. They just cannot have a real social life. But I have my real social life and the social network is only a part of me.” Benedict XVI knows that the social networks are a meeting point and hence why he himself has joined this virtual space. It helps him increase the Churc...