8 years ago
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Pope Francis To Forgive Sins on Twitter
Pope Francis has revolutionized the Roman Catholic Church in many ways and now he's venturing into the world of social networks.
It
has been announced through the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary
publication that the Pope may forgive sins through Twitter, to encourage
those that cannot afford to see him in Brazil to follow him through the
TV or Internet.
The
official announcement will be made next week during the World Youth Day
2013, which will take place in Brazil July 23rd-28th with the presence
of millions of people around the world.
The
initiative is to give "collective forgiveness" only to the Pope's
followers on Twitter that have previously confessed their sins, have
been absolved by a priest and have attended Mass.
They
may tune in the World Youth Day broadcasts and receive special papal
indulgence, which can reduce the time a soul spends in purgatory.
According to iEnterate.com, many theologians have criticized the measure
because it "distances the person of the priest, the only mediator
between God and man," said one Vatican analyst. "You do not get an
indulgence as you get a coffee from a machine," said Archbishop Claudio
María Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications.
"It's
not enough just to watch a mass online or follow Pope Francis via live
streaming on your iPad or by connecting to Pope2You.net. These are just
devices.
What
really counts is that the tweet that the Pope will send from Brazil or
the photos from World Youth Day produce genuine spiritual fruit in the
heart of the person," said Celli.
According
to the Courier Mail, Monsignor John Kennedy told Vatican Radio that
indulgences referred to God's kindness in forgiving the effects of sins.
"They
are linked to a theme that Pope Francis has spoken very frequently
about since the moment of his election - that is to say, to the gift of
God's mercy," Kennedy said.
On July 9, the Pope released a decree about indulgences and social media, according to Tennesean.com.
"The
faithful who on account of a legitimate impediment cannot attend the
aforementioned celebrations may obtain Plenary Indulgence under the
usual spiritual, sacramental and prayer conditions, in a spirit of
filial submission to the Roman Pontiff, by participation in the sacred
functions on the days indicated, following the same rites and spiritual
exercises as they occur via television or radio or, with due devotion,
via the new means of social communication," the Pope stated.
The
Pope's Twitter account is @Pontifex and has over 2,600,000 followers,
while its Spanish version is @Pontifex_es has nearly three million
followers worldwide.
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