Pope Benedict loves MOJ

When I was a kid, I read many times "The Great Brain" series, by John D. Fitzgerald.  Basically, the books were about the lives and times of the Fitzgerald brothers -- including Tom, "the Great Brain" -- in late 19th century Utah.  Some of their adventures were colored by the fact that they were part of the very small Catholic community in an overwhelmingly LDS territory. 

In one of the books, Tom goes off to a Jesuit boarding school, where he chafes under the discipline.  When the headmaster-priest refuses to allow Tom to start a basketball team, that is the last straw.  Tom writes to the Pope.  Eventually, he receives a letter back from the Holy See.  (!!!)  The headmaster is overwhelmed and delighted -- so much so, that he does not ask questions when Tom suggests that, in the letter, the Pope endorsed the basketball-team idea.  Next thing you know, the school is awash in hoops fever.

Well.  Pope Benedict didn't exactly say anything about Mirror of Justice in his recent message to the World Congress for Catholic TV.  (He's still focusing on "old media").  Still, this (from ZENIT) seems pretty close:

The Church must not be afraid to use technology to spread the good news, said Benedict XVI to the World Congress for Catholic TV in Madrid. . . .

The note added that "the multiplicity of initiatives, in many cases evidence of the promptings of the Holy Spirit, today requires greater mutual collaboration in a true effort to enhance professional quality, so as to facilitate a more spirited dialogue between the Church and the world."

It further stated: "The new forms of communication offer a highly favorable framework for more active participation of the public together with the media, promoting the inclusion of less fortunate sectors of the public and adapting themselves in a particular way to the experience of communion that is at the very heart of the Church."

To accomplish this, added the message, "it is necessary, without fear of technology, with intrepid hope and faith, to promote a joyful, creative and professional presence in television," being "coworkers of the truth so as to offer the good news of our Lord in the multiple formats of audiovisual media, while also witnessing to the beauty of creation."

So, I say to my fellow MOJ-ers:  God and the Pope want you to blog!