Vatican teams up with Apple to spread Pope's word

The Vatican is teaming up with Apple Inc. to spread the word of Pope Benedict XVI in the Internet age, the Catholic News Agency reported over the weekend. Father Giuseppe Costa, director of the Vatican’s publishing house Libreria Editrice Vaticana, said this will help spread the Pope's message to every part of the world. “It represents an enormous step on the international stage because, as you know, internet goes beyond space and time... The message of the Holy Father will now be received in every part of the world,” Costa said, according to a Catholic News Agency report. Under the agreement, Apple will work with the Vatican on eBooks and iTunes tracks of Benedict XVI’s weekly general audience. The agreement with Apple will initially focus on the Pope’s weekly catechesis. But if the initial project proves popular, this may expand to Benedict XVI’s other writings, the report said. Costa was quoted in the report as saying the new eBooks will be both “a beautiful art encyclopedia” and “a wonderful path of spirituality.” First editions are now available in Italian, even as the US bishops’ conference is now collaborating with the Vatican to translate the books in English. Ebook format Catholic News Agency said the eBook format of the latest volume of Benedict XVI's work, which is out in print form, will have illustrations from the Vatican’s art collections. “The illustrations are of great value also in the electronic version as the reader can access the book as they like. They can zoom in and out to examine the images and compare them with the texts for their own personal meditation,” Costa said. — LBG, GMA News