Friday, July 13, 2012

Vatican Mission Goes Digital




Religion has always been about effective communication to the masses and has always been involved in publishing be it the Bible, the Koran, Illustrated Manuscripts , illuminated Gospels. Religious publishing is itself a significant sector with powerhouses such as Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Tyndale etc. The UK government has itself just spent significant sums to send a James I bible into every UK primary school.

The Vatican has now stepped up to the digital opportunity. Digital service giant, Aptara, have announced that they are to produce the Vatican’s first eBooks. These will be as an illustrated series of Pope Benedict’s weekly addresses dating back to March, 2006. Available from the Apple Store, the series contains 13 highly illustrated eBooks. Each of the Pope’s weekly addresses focuses on a prominent figure in the Church’s history and is enhanced by portraits, paintings, and photos.

This digital moves shows that the Catholic Church is now expanding its reach and is hoping not onlt to engage with younger and more technical savvy audiences but also with  it huge audiences around the world and especially in emerging digital markets such as Brazil. Father Giuseppe Costa, CEO of the Vatican’s own publishing company Libreria Editrice Vaticana says, 'Every new communication technology is important to the Church’s missionary activity.’ 

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