He's not only a superintendent, but also a Jesuit priest AND an app developer. Father John Belmonte, who's active on Twitter too, is the kind of Catholic Techie who makes the rest of us look good.

catholictechie-fr-belmonte

Tell us about yourself in five words or less.

Jesuit Priest, New Media Missionary.

Of your pursuits, what's your favorite?

My favorite pursuit, technologically speaking, is exploring the innovations happening, specifically as they apply to education and faith. New tools are being developed every day, which is very exciting, especially for educators!

My latest project, underscored by Pope Francis' embrace of technology for the New Evangelization, is We Parent More, a new smartphone app for young Catholic parents. The app, which is the first of its kind, allows parents of young children to find resources for raising kids in a healthy, Catholic environment. It incorporates masstimes.org data and even enables parents to register for sacraments at local parishes.

The official unveiling of the We Parent More Catholic app will be on June 19, 2013 at the 2013 Catholic Media Conference in Denver hosted by the Catholic Press Association. We are very excited!

When you think of the New Evangelization from your approach as a "Catholic Techie," what excites you? What makes you want to continue?

The incredible development of technology in the past decade has been very exciting. The Holy Fathers and the various Synods on the New Evangelization and Communication continue to urge us to embrace these communication tools to spread the message of the Gospel. Catholics are eagerly responding to that call in ways never before imagined--it's truly inspiring.

What's the most rewarding aspect of your work?

The idea of breaking language barriers and empowering parish communities to evangelize in ways that weren't possible when I first became a priest energizes me to continue spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing? Do you have a gadget in hand or do you go native and screenless?

Spare time? If anything, I'm screenless in the sacristy.

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Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard