Pope John Paul II is set to get a posthumous Facebook page.
Vatican officials told The Associated Press Friday that they would reveal the page next week to promote the late pope’s May 1 beatification. The event-based site will feature video highlights from John Paul’s 27-year papacy and may stay up past May 1, depending on public interest.
This is not the first time the Vatican has used Facebook to reach out to people. In 2010, they created a page detailing Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to the United Kingdom. It remains active today, according to Monsignor Paul Tighe from the Vatican’s social communications office.
“What we found is that Facebook doesn’t just share information, it creates community,” Tighe said. “People begin talking to each other and sharing ideas.”
The announcement is part of the Vatican’s ongoing social media push, which is set to culminate with the launch of a new information web portal that will aggregate news from all of the Vatican’s various sources. The site, targeted toward social media users, will go live at Easter.
