In India, bishops get a crash course in computers, Internet

Published: 2007-08-21

MANGALORE, India (CNS) -- As the bell rang for class, they trooped in, carrying school bags and laptops. Some were bald and others gray-haired. All were Catholic bishops learning about computers at a Jesuit college in southern India. Regular students -- boys and girls -- looked on curiously as the "new" students got acquainted with the computer keys at a special session. The teacher explained the lesson with great respect. "I am almost illiterate in computer and the Internet," Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi told UCA News, an Asian church news agency. He was one of 22 archbishops and bishops who took a short basic course in computer science and the Internet. The cardinal is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. The bishops' Commission for Social Communication organized the Aug. 20-23 Shepherds of the Media Age program at St. Aloysius College in Mangalore. The workshop preceded a national conference of Catholic communicators.

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