The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has become a Facebook convert after witnessing first-hand the power of social networks to bring people together.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, made headlines two years ago when he blamed the internet and mobile phones for “dehumanising” relationships.
But he told the Standard that he had been impressed by the ability of the web to build communities in the real world.
Archbishop Nichols said: “I had a meeting with a group which runs homeless shelters and depends on youngsters for volunteers. They told me they put an appeal on Facebook and soon afterwards were contacted by three teenagers who had seen the message and wanted to play their part. I have said that I have concerns about websites which create relationships that appear to be real but in fact have no substance, but things like Facebook do help people keep in touch.”
Archbishop Nichols revealed his conversion before a visit to Our Lady’s Convent High School in Hackney where pupils are working with local businesses that have agreed to allow their shops to be used as bolt holes in times of crime as part of the CitySafe campaign.