Thousands sign up for Pope election text message

Last updated on: March 12, 2013 at 6:02 am by CNA Daily News

Thousands sign up for Pope election text message 2013-03-12T06:02:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Denver, Colo., Mar 12, 2013 / 12:02 am (CNA).- Over 35,000 people have signed up for PopeAlarm.com, a service of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students that sends out a free text and e-mail alert when the next Pope is elected.

“The reaction has been fantastic and overwhelming,” Kevin Cotter, FOCUS web director, told CNA March 11. “It’s been great to be at the forefront of Catholic new media and getting the word out there.”

Demand for the service has been high since its launch on Saturday March 9. As of Monday morning, over 35,000 people had registered for the service. The PopeAlarm.com website received over 140,000 page views.

“It’s really exploded and caught on fire,” Cotter said. “There’s a lot of social media traction.”

FOCUS staff will use the service to notify registered users when white smoke appears from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, the traditional signal that the next Pope has been elected. It is sponsored by the organization, which is based in the Denver area.

Cotter was inspired to launch the site because he could not find any service to alert him when the white smoke is first seen. He said the 2013 conclave marks the first time a papal election has taken place with this technology.

The web director noted that the success of PopeAlarm.com and an unrelated initiative called Adopt-a-Cardinal shows that Catholics are “very excited” about praying for the next Pope, about knowing who he is and about supporting him.

Cotter said that secular media sometimes has a “downtrodden view” of Catholics relative to the papacy that ignores many Catholics.

“We’re very enthusiastic about the Church,” he said. “There are a lot of Catholics out there that have a real optimism.”

“The Church is made for greatness,” he added. “We don’t always live up to that greatness, but we aspire to it and we want to be led to further greatness to continue the work of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.”

FOCUS is attempting to expand service to meet demand in the U.S. and Canada.

The service presently requires a U.S. or Canadian phone number. Cotter told CNA that FOCUS is working to respond to the many international requests for a PopeAlarm site that can handle text messaging in other countries.

PopeAlarm will also announce the papal election through its Twitter account “@popealarm.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 11, 2013

Catholic service requires conscience rights, Boston cardinal stresses

Next Post

March 12, 2013 Catholics see moral complications in drone usage

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many loaves in the feeding miracle?

Select your answer to see how you score.

3 7 12 5