SCI-TECH

Digital devotion: Pope Francis says church must spread the Gospel online

The Associated Press Published Saturday, December 7, 2013 11:56AM EST Last Updated Saturday, December 7, 2013 12:03PM EST

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano Pope speaks during a meeting with members of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute in the Clementine hall, at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013. In a speech at the Vatican Saturday, Francis said digital communication offers the opportunity to spread the Gospel. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, HO)

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VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis says it is "indispensable" that the Catholic church make fruitful use of the Internet to spread the Gospel.

In a speech at the Vatican Saturday, Francis said those toiling for the faith can use the Internet to encounter "real women and men, who are often hurt or feeling lost" and offer them "true reasons for hope."

Francis, who has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed, said the church must be present on the Internet above all for young people, since the Net is "a sort of life environment" for them. He suggested the church use the Internet to "reawaken the insuppressible questions of the heart about the sense of existence" and point users to Christ.