The Vatican launches its yearbook online, another step in its digital transition

The Vatican has launched the first digital version of the ‘Annuario Pontificio’, an online platform that will allow immediate and updated access to official information on the structure and authorities of the Catholic Church worldwide, and which represents a further step in the digitalization of its resources. The digitization of this traditional volume, which since the 19th century has compiled information on dioceses, dicasteries, religious congregations, pontifical representations, cardinals and bishops, will offer a more agile and global access to data updated almost in real time. In addition, it will enable advanced searches by name, position, country or diocese and facilitate the consultation of accurate and verified information.

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The platform was presented to Pope Leo XIV on Monday during an audience in which he made the first access and navigated the platform. “I thank you for this work, which will be of great use to so many who operate in the service of the Church. I encourage you to continue with this spirit of service, so that what is born with care and attention may become an even greater help over time,” the pontiff told the collaborators present. One of the traits that have characterized the first months of the pontificate of Leo XIV is his support for the use of new technologies, as long as they are used responsibly and in a humane way. In a recent meeting with the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the pontiff addressed the challenge posed by the “digital universe” for the Catholic Church, emphasizing the need to teach people to inhabit digital media in a human way (…) so that the internet can truly be a space of freedom, responsibility, and fraternity.” The Holy See explained that the digital version of the Yearbook “is born with the aim of making official information relating to the structure of the Catholic Church more accessible.” This new tool is aimed at its dioceses, the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, religious institutes, pontifical representations, cardinals, bishops, employees, and all figures who perform ecclesiastical or Church-related duties. Access to the platform will require registration and will be available by subscription: 18.90 euros quarterly or 68.10 euros annually. Despite the digital transition, the printed version of the yearbook will continue to be published for its historical and documentary value, the Holy See specified. For his part, the substitute for General Affairs, Edgar Peña Parra, highlighted that the digitalization of the Pontifical Yearbook represents “a significant step on the path of renewal of the service instruments of the Holy See”. He also pointed out that, “in a time when communication is increasingly fast and global”, offering “immediate and reliable access” to information about the life of the Church, with certified data, means “putting technology at the service of the ecclesial mission”. The Secretariat of State coordinated the development of the platform together with the Dicastery for Communication, which created the technological infrastructure and the database. The launch is part of the process of modernizing the Holy See’s information tools and anticipates new functions, such as the expansion of the portal to more languages and the incorporation of digitized historical data. “The project also represented an important opportunity to consolidate the visual identity of the Secretariat of State in a more systematic way,” the Vatican explained in the statement.