Catholic Fire

Vatican Radio/PCCS) Pope Francis has expressed his appreciation for the work being done by all the Vatican’s media services in enhancing their presence and participation in the digital world. The Pope’s words came on Monday as he was given a personal viewing of the new updated version of  “The Pope App”, developed by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Council President Archbishop Claudio Celli, accompanied by project coordinator, Thaddeus Jones, met with the Pope to demonstrate features of the app, which was released in the iTunes and Google Play stores on July 4th. Available in five languages, the Pope App 2.0  is free and can be downloaded on Apple and Android devices.  Powered by News.va, it features the latest papal news and information as produced by the Vatican’s own media services – including Vatican Radio.  Its new design simplifies access to content and, according to Archbishop Celli, allows people to be in ever closer contact with the ...

With Christmas just around the corner, there's a new Advent calendar to help prepare for the holidays. But this isn't your average calendar. It is high-tech, and it can be seen through a website or a smartphone. It was launched by the Archdiocese of Sydney and it's called the 'Xt3 Advent calendar'. It truly is an online journey towards Christmas. Every day, a door virtually opens so that users from all over the world can have a unique yet shared experience. The website includes all kinds of interactive material like daily reflections, podcasts and even videos like this one, featuring children talking about the true meaning of Christmas. And all the way from Australia, it will also share Cardinal Pell's message for the holidays and a special surprise for Pope Francis' birthday on December 17th. It's the fifth year the Archdiocese launches this project, and it's also available for iPhone and Android. A new way to count the days for Christmas i...

Catholic evangelizers talk about how the new evangelization requires new technology: