The Vatican said that Pope Francis, during a meeting on Monday with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and Chief Executive, discussed how social media could be used for poverty reduction.
A report from the Vatican City said that the Pope granted private audience to Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla, who arrived in Italy to attend Saturday’s wedding of Spotify founder, Daniel Ek in Lake Como.
“It was a meeting we’ll never forget,” Zuckerberg said. “You can feel [the Pope’s] warmth and kindness, and how deeply he cares about helping people.”
The Vatican noted that both parties spoke about how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty and encourage a culture of encounter.
Zuckerberg and the wife delivered a message of hope, especially to those people who were most disadvantaged, the Vatican said. Not only that, the pope was also presented with a model of Aquila, a solar-powered aircraft that Facebook hopes will expand Internet access in developing countries.
“Together they spoke about how to use communications technology to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and to communicate a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged,” the Vatican Press Office said in a statement.
It added that the 79-year-old Pope who has an active Twitter account but no Facebook profile once confessed that he did not know how to use a computer. (dpa/NAN)
