A maximum of 160 characters per message: urgent news flashes are now being sent by SMS to the mobile phones of all priests in the Canaries. The initiative has been taken by the diocese of the Canary Islands, traditionally considered a pioneer in social communications in Spain. The service, coordinated by Mario Santana, has been introduced by the diocesan office for social communications. By using this system of communication particularly in vogue and cost-effective, it intends to reach all the parish priests of the diocese and so keep them updated. The service is called “Infomóvil” and permits parish priests to receive urgent diocesan news on their own mobile phones (telegrams, funerals, meetings, celebrations…). Priests only need to enrol in the service, which is free and paid for by the diocesan office. The texting method has the advantage of permitting priests to be reached in real time wherever they are in the diocese, which extends over several islands and creates major problem of communication and travel. The service has been in operation since January, but is only now reaching its maximum diffusion.
