The Jesuits, for 500 years in the front line of Catholic evangelisation, have decided that Second Life, the online virtual world, can be fertile territory for spreading the Gospel.
In an article in their official organ, “Civiltà Cattolica,” they suggest that just as they once penetrated the jungles of Africa or distant China, today they should be present in Second Life.
Father Antonio Spadaro, the literary critic of “Civiltà Cattolica” and an expert on new technologies, writes: “This virtual Second Life is becoming populated with churches, mosques, temples, cathedrals. synagogues, places of prayer of all kinds. And behind an avatar there is a man or a woman, perhaps searching for God and faith, perhaps with very strong spiritual needs…I don’t see there is anything so astounding if we have a few avatars in Second Life.”
“Second Life is not simply a ‘closed’ phenomenon,” he writes. “It is a real living environment that every day extends its frontiers and increases the number of residents. We cannot close our eyes to it. It must be understood, and this is especially true for people with educational responsibilities. There are young people, fragile people, facing the seductions of simulated life. The best way to understand it is to enter into it. Therefore any initiative which can help the souls of residents should be considered positive.”
Reference: The Financial Times Limited 2007
