The Internet can be an extraordinary means of evangelisation, a way to keep the pace to expand "the faith in Christ". That's what Pope John Paul II said this morning in the meeting with the diocesan directors of the pontifical missionary works in the USA. To the 150 people present (priests, nuns and lay) the pope said he greatly appreciates the inauguration of the new website organised by the missionary body. The development of the internet over the past years, acknowledged the pope, provides an "unprecedented opportunity" to extend the missionary doctrine of the catholic church, through a means which has become "the first source of information, especially for young people". "I hope that the website will awaken, in the catholic people of the USA, great appreciation for missionary work, and allow them to understand the rich variety of peoples and cultures in which the gospel penetrates".
In his speech, the pope said he wishes that the website can stimulate an increase in missionary vocation, and lead to new commitment, for a new "evangelisation of traditionally Christian countries". Your work, he concluded, can truly testify the missionary zeal present in American catholics, "and can prove fruitful for the spreading of God's reign through new frontiers".