Papa azindua portal ya Vatican

Kiongozi wa Kanisa Katoliki duniani, Papa Benedict wa 16 akizindua tovuti ndogo (portal) ya makao makuu ya kanisa hilo, Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI has launched the portal, www.news.va, with a papal click on Wednesday, the 60th Anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

The portal is the newest attempt in a series of endeavours by the Vatican - including the launch of a YouTube Channel, a Facebook page and iPhone app guiding Catholics through the sacrament of confession - to spread the Holy Word through the Internet to a wider audience.

The portal will aggregate the main news of every department and will be updated thrice a day.

“I think that we must educate the Roman Curia of what is the real meaning of communication,” said Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Vatican office responsible for the development and maintenance of the site.

While the portal will initially offer two languages, English and Italian, the Vatican plans to add German, French, Spanish and Portuguese versions to the website over time. The Vatican may also add a search function and a distinct link to the Vatican homepage.

Although the portal is primarily intended as an easy-to-access source of Vatican news for the outside world, Celli also hopes it was serve the dual function of improving communication within the Vatican.

The Papal Office has recently been beleaguered by miscommunications, with the Pope’s recent comments about condoms and HIV requiring three official clarifications.