Pope Francis has been offered what could be his first high-profile tech gift: the Internet domain popefrancis.com.
Chicago lawyer Chris Connors, 39, bought the domain in 2010 and is planning to give it to the Church for free, Chicago Tribune reported.
“I thought that at some point in the near future that the names would get more relevant ... Nobody names their kids Innocent anymore. And I thought it’d be great if a pope chose Francis after the great saint,” the Chicago Tribune quoted him as saying.
He added he had hoped a pope would choose to be named after Italian saint Francis of Assisi, who lived a simple life for the poor.
Connors bought the domain for “just a couple bucks” a year through domain name registrar GoDaddy.com as a bet with himself, hoping Chicago Cardinal Francis George would become pope and choose the name Francis, the report said.
Now that Bergoglio has been elected pope, Connors contacted officials in the Chicago Archdiocese about his plan.
He said that since Cardinal George was busy, he left a message at Holy Name Cathedral.
“I told him that if Pope Francis wants it, he’s got it. Especially in this age with social media, it might be helpful for him if he’s going to use it. I’d like to see it used,” he said.
For his part, George said he relayed this to Msgr. Peter Wells of the Vatican’s Office of the Secretary of State.
“This is just delightful,” George was quoted in the Tribune report as saying. — Reuters
source: gmanetwork.com
