The internet is a new mission territory, Senator Ronan Mullen said last Thursday, 29 November, at the launch of the vocations website of the Irish Daughters of Charity, Begin.ie.

He quoted Pope Paul IV saying of the mass media in 1975: “The Church would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not utilize these powerful means that human skill is daily rendering more perfect”. The world wide web, Senator Mullen commented, has brought mass media to a level far beyond anything Pope Paul could have imagined.

“It is far more than a source of information,” he said; “it is an environment in which so many young people live and move and have their being. Just as the Church felt compelled in past centuries to bring Gospel values to the far corners of the earth, it must respond to this new reality by presenting those values in the cyber world.”

The website which Senator Mullen was launching (www.begin.ie) has attracted a large number of visits in the months since it went live. It carries news stories relating to Vincentian activities, articles on a wide range of issues of cultural interest, a video blog, and information on volunteering for young adults.

According to Sr Claire McKiernan, Vocations Director of the Irish Daughters of Charity, there are plans to add more interactive features to the site in the coming months.