The Pope’s annual charitable collection for the poor known as 'Peter’s Pence' will soon have a Facebook page after its launch on Twitter and Instagram earlier this year, the Vatican announced on Friday.
The Peter's Pence Facebook page in Italian will be followed by pages in Spanish and English, which are expected to go live in September and October, the Vatican statement said.
The Vatican wants to "create a community open to all with widespread use of Facebook at grassroots level, starting from Italy," and to highlight charitable works funded by Peter's Pence said the statement.
Catholics are traditionally invited to make 'Peter's Pence' donations to the Pope's charitable works each year on 29 June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, in a sign of solidarity.
Scholarships to help university students uprooted from their homes in Iraqi Kurdistan and a new primary school for low-caste Dalit children in India were examples of projects supported by Peter's Pence, the Vatican said.
The Vatican launched the Peter's Pence website (www.peterspence.va) in English, Italian, and Spanish last November allowing Catholics to donate online "to the Holy See’s works of mercy, Christian charity, peace and assistance," the Vatican said.
