Vatican Used E-Alert To Tell Media

The Vatican is not entirely steeped in the past. This from Agence France Presse:

Pope John Paul II's death was announced to the world's media through an e-mail, whose transmission was itself the subject of an SMS alert sent to journalists' mobile telephones.

News outlets received the information minutes after the pontiff died at 9:37 pm (1937 GMT) Saturday.

A mobile phone message sent to AFP said to check for an "urgent declaration" from the Vatican sent to the agency's e-mail address.

The e-mail, from Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, was short: "The Holy Father died this evening at 21:37 in his private apartment.

"All the procedures foreseen by the Apostolic Constitution 'Universi Dominici gregis' promulgated by John Paul II on 22 February 1996 have been set in motion."

The electronic alert underlined the Vatican's embrace of media technologies under John Paul II, who was known as a talented communicator adept in spreading his message worldwide.