Catholic organization launches online multimedia portal

Rome, Italy, Sep 20, 2012 / 15:39 pm

Catholic media network Aleteia.org has launched a new website to present a collection of the "best print and multimedia content" from Catholic organizations across the globe.

"Today we're announcing that more than 1,000 Catholic institution movements and media are joined together launching a network to answer all the questions and information that people are looking for in the Internet," Jesus Colina, Chairman of Aleteia said Sept. 20 at the website's Rome launch.

Aleteia.org, which is a project of the Foundation for Evangelization through the Media, aims to promote a "global conversation on faith, life and society for all 'truth-seekers'" through the Internet.

Launching in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Arabic, Aleteia is just one part of the foundation's response to the Pope's call to bring the New Evangelization into the digital world.

The website will act as a  platform for all things Catholic, featuring print, video, radio and news from partners worldwide.

"We want only to serve, we are not producers," Colina explained in a Sept. 20 interview with CNA. "We're the servants of the institutions and our vocation is to serve."

Although each source on their site has its own "identity" and "diversity," Aleteia will be "unifying their effort" to spread the message of the Gospel.

Heading up the project as CEO is Andrea Salvati, an Italian who has spent the past six years on Google Italy's leadership team.

"This is a huge opportunity for me to be in my job and helping this company to become an online giant," he said, " but above all" it offers him a chance to "stay close to my values."

Although he will not officially join the team until January, Salvati will begin cooperating with the site in October.

Salvati hopes the launch of Aleteia will provide a greater opportunity for Catholic content to "be shown to many more people" than before.

In addition to the multimedia website, Aleteia is also offering a network of advertisers that "respect an ethical code" while also bringing in revenue, Colina said.

Often times, he noted, Catholic websites shy away from using revenue generating advertisements because there is no way to filter the content of the ads.

This month will mark the pilot of the advertising network in Italy, which they hope to expand to other countries.

Although the website has no official affiliation with the Vatican, Colina said they have "a very good relationship."

"We have good collaboration with some Vatican institutions, pontifical councils, media outlets as (well as) other Catholic media," he said.

Aleteia is currently made up of a team of 45 people around the world who serve as writers, translators, social media managers and digital experts with offices in Rome, Paris and Washington, D.C.