That moment when someone re-tweets your sin
Pope Francis has
revolutionized the Roman Catholic Church in many ways and now he's going
after the world of social networks. It has been announced through the
Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary publication that the Pope may forgive sins
through Twitter, to encourage those that cannot afford to see him in
Brazil to follow him through the TV or Internet.
The official
announcement will be made next week during the World Youth Day 2013,
which will take place in Brazil July 23-28 with the presence of millions
of young people around the world. The initiative is to give "collective
forgiveness" only to the Pope's followers on Twitter that have
previously confessed their sins, have been absolved by a priest and have
attended Mass. They may tune in the World Youth Day broadcasts and
receive special papal indulgence, which can reduce the time a soul
spends in purgatory.
According to iEnterate.com, many
theologians have criticized the measure because it "distances the person
of the priest, the only mediator between God and man," said one Vatican
analyst. "You do not get an indulgence as you get a coffee from a
machine," said Archbishop Claudio María Celli, president of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
"It's not enough
just to watch a mass online or follow Pope Francis via live streaming on
your iPad or by connecting to Pope2You.net. These are just devices.
What really counts is that the tweet that the Pope will send from Brazil
or the photos from World Youth Day produce genuine spiritual fruit in
the heart of the person," said Celli.
According to the Courier
Mail, Monsignor John Kennedy told Vatican Radio that indulgences
referred to God's kindness in forgiving the effects of sins. "They are
linked to a theme that Pope Francis has spoken very frequently about
since the moment of his election - that is to say, to the gift of God's
mercy," Kennedy said.
On July 9, the Pope released a decree about
indulgences and social media, according to Tennesean.com. "The faithful
who on account of a legitimate impediment cannot attend the
aforementioned celebrations may obtain Plenary Indulgence under the
usual spiritual, sacramental and prayer conditions, in a spirit of
filial submission to the Roman Pontiff, by participation in the sacred
functions on the days indicated, following the same rites and spiritual
exercises as they occur via television or radio or, with due devotion,
via the new means of social communication," the Pope stated.
The
Pope's Twitter account is @Pontifex and has over 2,600,000 followers,
while its Spanish version is @Pontifex_es has nearly three million
followers worldwide.
http://www.latinospost.com/articles/23964/20130719/pope-francis-forgive-twitter-followers-sins-online.htm
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