March 26, 2013: Vatican-sponsored news application for smart phones known as “The
Pope App” has risen to the top of the charts in the iTunes store, reflecting a spike
in interest in the papacy and newly-elected Pope Francis.
According to Catholic
News Agency, in the last week, The Pope App is the most-downloaded news app for iPhone
in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Venezuela, Peru, Poland, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, and
Pope Francis’ home country of Argentina.
It is the second most downloaded news
app in France and the third most downloaded in Germany. The app also ranks in the
top ten in eight other countries, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
said March 23.
The Pope App is managed by the Pontifical Council and uses content
from www.news.va, the Vatican’s multimedia, multilingual news portal. The application
provides news and official speeches from Pope Francis as well as images and videos
of his appearances. Users can access live coverage of papal events and receive alerts
about them.
In addition, it gives users access to live webcams of the Vatican,
including a view overlooking St. Peter’s Square, a view of the dome of St. Peter’s
Basilica, Bl. John Paul II’s tomb, and the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. The
app is available for the iPhone, the iPad and Android devices. The high-definition
iPad version was recently released, offering higher resolution versions of the same
content.
Pope Benedict XVI launched The Pope App on Jan. 23. Since then, it
has been downloaded more than 155,000 times across all mobile devices.
The
application is part of a push in the Vatican to reach out using new media. Pope Benedict
also launched a Twitter account, using the handle “Pontifex,” in December 2012. Pope
Francis now uses the account to reach millions of followers in numerous languages.
Brandon
Vogt, a Catholic blogger who has authored a book on the Catholic Church and the new
media, said there has been a “flurry of digital activity” on the part of the Vatican
that has been “very surprising and encouraging.” Vogt told CNA in January that the
new technology and media can be “the most powerful means that we’ve ever had” to reach
out to both Catholics and non-Catholics. Source: catholicnewsagency.com