Vatican-Google launches YouTube channel

(January 23, 2009) The Vatican and internet search engine giant Google on Friday jointly launched a Vatican channel on the popular video sharing website, YouTube, where Catholics worldwide will be able to see Pope Benedict and important Church events. The YouTube initiative was launched at a press conference along with the release of the Pope’s message for the Catholic Church’s World Communications Day this year. Among those present at Friday’s press conference was Henrique de Castro, managing director of media solutions for Google, which owns YouTube. The new web channel involving the initiative of Google, the Vatican Television Center and Vatican Radio, can be accessed at youtube.com/vatican. Explaining the choice of Youtube, Holy See’s spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told the press conference that keen and sensitive people everywhere might be interested in the messages, proposals and positions of a high moral authority such as the Pope and the Catholic Church in general. He said YouTube was chosen as an apt online platform in order to be able to to offer a reliable and continuous source of reference on the Pope and the Vatican. Fr. Lombardi said the Pope has expressed great satisfaction over this move and has already a video message for web navigators.