It is so mundane, click to order food, click to buy shoes or click to book tickets. Pope Francis wants you to click to pray. The Vatican said on Tuesday that the Click to Pray app is being relaunched, allowing more Catholics to “connect your prayers to the world”.
Francis, 84, is no stranger to social media — he has a staggering 19 million followers on Twitter, 8.3 million followers on Instagram, and has a high tolerance for selfies — and admits that social networks can become ” Promote opportunities for contact with others”.
Since its first appearance in 2016, the social media application has been downloaded by more than 2.5 million people, offering prayers and messages from the pope every day, while allowing users to send prayers to others. Vatican officials said that Click to Pray 2.0 will be launched on November 1. After the test period, the test users are composed of monks and nuns from all over the world. The new version-available in seven languages-offers more personalization, allows users to set an agenda to arrange prayers, provides deeper background about specific prayers, and links to external initiatives approved by the Vatican, such as tweets with God.
“The idea is to be able to use it (the new app) and give an instrument to people to pray, to be in communion,” Monsignor Lucio Ruiz, secretary of the Dicastery for Communication, which oversees the Holy See’s entire communication network, told AFP.
Asked whether the app was launched to counteract declining church attendance in the West, he said it was “not a replacement for something”.
“It’s understanding culture, reading it and listening and seeing where we are, to be able to be there,” Ruiz said. “Because where people are, the Church must be.”
News Source : Gadgets 360
