Revamped Vatican web site may feature Arabic, Russian versions

(Aug.08,2010)The Vatican web site, which is undergoing a thorough updating, may soon introduce versions in Russian and Arabic, the webmaster told L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican’s newspaper on Monday. Mons. Lucio Adrian Ruiz said that the goal of the web site is to provide as much information as possible in languages that are commonly understood by “today’s internet users.”
The Vatican site is already available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Chinese, as well as Italian and Latin. The site, www.vatican.va, consists of some half a million pages with sections in eight languages: Latin, Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Chinese. Mons.Ruiz said "First of all it must be made clear that it will be a long process to update the site, but it has to be done.
The site was launched in 1995 with a Christmas message by late Pope John Paul II, who was Pontiff at the time. It currently hosts several sections, including archive material, statements and publications from the Holy See's media office, such as the daily bulletin. There is also an area dedicated to Pope Benedict XVI, including speeches, details of his travels and other activities. Mons. Ruiz said plans include expanding the section on all the 265 popes in history, with online versions of documents and other materials.
The Vatican site receives an average of some three million hits a day. The most hits originate from computers in the United States, followed by Italy, Spain, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, France and China.