Pope John Paul may well be a technological luddite, but on Tuesday the Vatican said that he would be dedicating his message for World Communications Day to the internet.

The pontiff's aides make no secret of the fact that he does not own a computer and still insists on writing all his speeches by hand, but the Vatican has revealed that his chosen theme for the yearly message will be "The Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel."

Although World Communications Day does not come round until 12 May, the Pope's message will actually be published in January to allow churches around the world to prepare.

This isn't the first time the church has expressed an interest in the net. Earlier this year, two patron saints were chosen to help the misguided technology industry.

Saint Titus Brandsma, a campaigner for freedom of the press in Nazi Germany, and Saint Isidore of Seville, creator of the first encyclopaedia, were selected as the guardian angels of the web.