Duc in Altum - Put out into the Deep!

2. The Internet is certainly a new “forum” understood in the ancient Roman sense of that public space where politics and business were transacted, where religious duties were fulfilled where much of the social life of the city took place, and where the best and the worst of human nature was on display. It was a crowded and bustling urban space, which both reflected the surrounding culture and created a culture of its own. This is no less true of cyberspace, which is as it were a new frontier opening up at the beginning of this new millennium. Like the new frontiers of other times, this one too is full of the interplay of danger and promise, and not without the sense of adventure which marked other great periods of change. For the Church the new world of cyberspace is a summons to the great adventure of using its potential to proclaim the Gospel message. This challenge is at the heart of what it means at the beginning of the millennium to follow the Lord's command to "put out into the deep”: Duc in altum! (Lk 5:4). Message of the Holy Father for the 36th World Communications Day. Pope John Paul II, Sunday May 12, 2002.

It is our responsibility to respond the call of our Lord to witness to our faith. And, in my experience, there is no more important a place to do it than in the realm of technology and the Internet.

What a beautiful and awesome responsibility it is for us Christians to bring His Light into this place! How wonderful it is to share the love that we have for Jesus Christ, for our brothers and sisters, and for our selves than to lay bear our souls to the world.

The Pope John Paul's original message can be found here.

Pax vobis,

J.E.