Puffs of smoke, speeches in Latin and multipage encyclicals have all been used by the Vatican to communicate with the faithful. Now the pope is trying to broaden his audience by joining the wannabe musicians, college pranksters and water-skiing squirrels on YouTube. In his inaugural YouTube foray Friday, Pope Benedict XVI welcomed viewers to this “great family that knows no borders” and said he hoped they would “feel involved in this great dialogue of truth.” (more…)

The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI is getting his own channel on Google.

It says the Vatican TV Center and Vatican Radio are collaborating with Google on the project.

The Vatican’s press office said Saturday that texts and video of the pope’s speeches as well as news about the pontiff would be posted directly onto the channel. (more…)