However, people who connected via WhatsApp showed active participation in spreading not only the message of Pope Francis, but also other ministers of the Roman Catholic Church. A post featuring the reflections of Bishop Claudio Maniago scored more than 10,000 views in just 12 hours.
“This is a new sermon format that will suit an adult who belongs to the ‘always busy generation’ and besides, he is always mobile,” explained the project coordinator, priest Marco Sanavio. “It would be nice if people who receive these sermons shared them with friends in social networks via mechanisms that are typical for communication in social networks, the same way as with any other posts.”
The website became operative on February 11 during a general audience with the Pope. The project was launched on the site www.unattimodipace.it (moment of rest) by the pontiff himself using a tablet PC.
This project is one of the initiatives of the Catholic Church dedicated to the year-long Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
In addition to preaching on social networks, the Vatican also plans to launch a number of Emoji (animated images) with religious themes. The first two 'popemoji', created by Valentino Villanova, are dedicated to Pope Francis himself and the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy; they are ready and available for download on the website www.unattimodipace.it