The Vatican’s fat red yearbook, known as the Annuario Pontificio, will now be available and updated regularly on an app and online. Source: OSV News.
The digital platform “will guarantee reliable and immediate access to certified content, promoting an accurate and documented account of the life of the Church,” the Vatican Secretariat of State said in a press release on Tuesday.
The pontifical yearbook lists: all Vatican offices and staff; the world’s dioceses and mission territories; bishops, cardinals and international religious orders of men and women; papal diplomats and ambassadors to the Vatican; historical notes, such as a list of the popes and their years in office, and more.
Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs in the secretariat, and others, met with Pope Leo XIV on December 6 to present the initiative and to let him try searching the platform on a tablet.
“Thank you for this work, which will be of great use to so many people who work serving the Church,” the Pope told those present. “I encourage you to continue in this spirit of service, so that what is established with care and attention may become an even greater help over time.”
Archbishop Parra said, “The digitisation of the Pontifical Yearbook represents a significant step in the renewal of the Holy See’s tools of service. At a time when communication is increasingly rapid and global, offering immediate and reliable access to information on the life of the Church – with certified data – means putting technology at the service of the Church’s mission.”
The thick, hardcover yearbook typically numbers more than 2500 pages and is available only in Italian. Printed once a year, the Vatican used to send changes and updates via email and post them online once or twice a month. Officials from the Secretariat of State are responsible for updating the volume.
Now, as a digital resource, information will be revised and updated more often, the secretariat’s press release said.
The hard copy volume will still be published, the secretariat said, due to the historical value of such documentation.
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Vatican yearbook goes online (By Carol Glatz, OSV News)
