Pope Benedict as Next YouTube star?

The Vatican–which recently endorsed an iPhone prayer app and gave its blessing to gadget evangelism— is displaying further receptivity to technology with Saturday’s announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will get his own YouTube channel. According to the Associated Press, the Vatican TV Center and Vatican Radio are collaborating with Google on the project, and texts and video of the Pope’s speeches, as well as news about the pontiff, will be posted directly to the channel.