Pope Benedict asked to begin blogging at Synod

I kid you not:

The Synod of Bishops on the Bible heard an unusual suggestion Tuesday morning when a Hong Kong observer asked Pope Benedict to start up his own daily blog on Scripture.

Agnes Kam Leng Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong, said people need to experience Scripture in small but significant doses.

“To put it in a nutshell, I’d like to suggest to you Holy Father to start a multi-language blog to shepherd today’s world by scriptural verses, daily verses,” she said on the synod floor. The pope’s blog should include simple reflections that relate Scripture to real-life situations, she said.

Lam included advice that’s probably good for any blogger: “Remember, brief texts, Holy Father, and plentiful images, and this will be very attractive to the young generation and to today’s people.”

The talk apparently provoked a positive reaction and some laughter, but the pope, who was presiding over the Oct. 5-26 assembly, didn’t say whether he’d be blogging anytime soon. (CNS Blog)

I agree with how Pope Benedict handled this. He definitely should wait to announce his blog until he has at least decided on a template and platform. After all, that's just common practice.

Pope Benedict's blog would not be the first time a Pontiff has taken an active role on the web. Many will remember that Pope John Paul II was often known to lurk on Catholic forums (photographic evidence).

(/joking.)

update: The Curt Jester has a hilarious follow-up to this story, complete with his "photographic evidence."

Keeping up to date on the World Synod of Bishops...

... will be easier with the CNS Bible Blog launch:

As the world Synod of Bishops gets underway at the Vatican, Catholic News Service today introduces on these pages the CNS Bible Blog. Entries in this new blog will be easy to find: Just look for the little photo of the Bible at left or click on “CNS Bible Blog” in the categories section on the right side of this page.

Here’s a link to short biographies of our writers for this special series. You’ll see that they include priests, religious and laypeople with expertise in both the Old and New Testaments.

Check back here often for what we expect will be an intriguing look at the books of the Bible as participants in the Synod of Bishops meet in what Pope Benedict has said will be an important gathering in the life of the church.

Whispers is also doing overtime and John Allen has more.