Though he prefers to use pencil and paper, the pope emeritus is fascinated by high-tech tools.Retired Pope Benedict’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, told reporters yesterday that the pope shows great interest in the archbishop’s iPad.
“When I show him something on the iPad, and I’m making the information slide by on the screen with my fingers, these new technologies pique his interest from time to time,” he said.
The 57-year-old archbishop said the retired pope “doesn’t think these things are ruled out for an elderly person” like himself.
In fact, some may remember, Pope Benedict became the first pope in history to own an iPod when Vatican Radio staff gave him a 2-gigabyte white nano in 2006.
When the head of the radio’s technical and computer services department identified himself and handed the pope the boxed iPod, the pope was said to have replied, “Computer technology is the future.”
It’s doubtful he’s ever used the iPod, even though it was loaded with works by his favorite composers, like Mozart.
He never used the laptop he got as a gift just a few days after he broke his right wrist in 2009, preferring to use a voice recorder instead to put down his thoughts and ideas.
Though he isn’t immersed in the digital world, Pope Benedict repeatedly endorsed it as the new frontier for evangelization.
Pope Francis, too, is no digital native. As most people know, he prefers phonecalls and letters to IM and email.
When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he once said that he would try to start using the Internet when he retired.
Obviously a plan that now may be delayed.