All about the Vatican's widget

The Vatican has just begun offering a widget, a software application, that will allow anyone with a website or blog to provide readers with automatically updated news and documents from the Vatican. The widget has been available free from the Vatican’s website since April the 19^th. When installed, the widget opens a small window with four tabs. Clicking on one provides the latest news from the Vatican, the Pope’s angelus or Regina Coeli address, recent speeches and the Vatican press office’s daily news bulletin.

So, what prompted the Vatican Internet Office decide to offer this app and what feedback has there been to this new development so far? To find out, Susy Hodges spoke to Mons. Lucio Ruiz, head of the Vatican’s Internet Office.

Mons. Ruiz says the widget allows information such as the words and activity of the Holy Father to be "refreshed in real time" on the user's computer "directly from the source" at the Vatican."

When asked about the feedback to this new development, Mons Ruiz says people are "very happy" and reveals that on the first day the widget was offered, the Vatican Internet Office received around 2,000 requests for the special code that will allow the widget to be imbedded on websites or blogs.

So, are there further new developments from the Vatican Internet Office in the pipeline? Mons. Ruiz says "yes" but was keeping the details under wraps. "It's a secret, a surprise," he insisted.

Listen to the full interview by Susy Hodges with Monsignor Lucio Ruiz: 00:06:38:28