Papal alms collection debuts on Facebook

Vatican City May 19 (IANS/AKI) 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 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 a Vatican statement said.

Scholarships to help university students uprooted from their homes in Iraqi Kurdistan and a new primary school for Dalit children in India were examples of projects supported by Peter s Pence the Vatican 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 June 29 the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in a sign of solidarity.

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