Catholic Church officials in Italy are taking a dim view of this inevitable development: the digitization and mobilization of “holy cards,” or pictures of saints. The cards, called santini, are a staple of life among the faithful.
Now for four bucks and change you can carry a digital image of your favorite saint on your cell instead of in your wallet or purse. The entrepreneur responsible says she means no disrespect and is merely assuring that the “holy card” tradition keeps up with the times.
From Reuters:
“We found a need and filled it,” Barbara Labate, who came up with the idea with her business partner in a cell phone services company based in Milan, told Reuters. “We are merely catching up with the times. I think this will appeal to young people as well as grandmothers.”
Catholic bishops? Not so much.
“This is in really bad taste,” Bishop Lucio Soravito De Franceschi, a member of the Italian bishops conference committee for doctrinal matters, told the Turin newspaper La Stampa. “It is a distortion of sacred things … selling santini for cell phones is horrifying.”
This might be a controversy on which Pope Benedict will need to make the ultimate call. His picture’s for sale, too, along with Jesus and Madonna.
