So this is interesting. The Vatican has decided it could do better on the communication front so it's holding a four-day conference starting today on the Internet in general and how young folks in particular use new media.

The symposium follows a few snafus earlier this year, including one, the Associated Press notes, in which the Pope rehabilitated ("un-excommunicated") a bishop who, it was later discovered, had made comments denying the Holocaust. The AP reports that the Pope was upset that Vatican officials hadn't "done a simple Internet search" on the bishop.

Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia have sent representatives to the conference, which is drawing about 100 people from around Europe. A Swiss hacker and an Interpol cyber-crime expert will also discuss hacking.

The Telegraph reports that the Pope is already quite digi-literate and has his own laptop and an iPhone. The AP reports that the Vatican's top spokesman has said the Church wants to get better at using new technologies to spread its message.

"Our dream in this global village created by new technologies is that the church and Jesus' disciples can have their tent—Jesus' tent—so that the attention of men and women who walk the streets of the world is turned toward it," he said.