E-mail me if you need to - Benedict XVI : )

Got a prayer or a problem for the new pope? No problem – now you can email him.

Showing that Pope Benedict XVI intends to follow in the footsteps of John Paul II’s multimedia ministry, the Vatican today modified its website so users who click on an icon on the home page automatically activate an e-mail composer with Pope Benedict XVI’s address: benedettoxvivatican.va.

John Paul, who died on April 2, was the first Pope to use email, a medium that made its debut during his 26-year papacy. The Vatican said he received tens of thousands of messages in his final weeks as he struggled with illness.

In 2001, sitting in the Vatican’s frescoed Clementine Hall, John Paul used a laptop to tap out an apology for Roman Catholic missionary abuses against indigenous peoples of the South Pacific.