"...Friendship is a great human good, but it would be emptied of its ultimate value if it were to be understood as an end in itself. Friends should support and encourage each other in developing their gifts and talents and in putting them at the service of the human community. In this context, it is gratifying to note the emergence of new digital networks that seek to promote human solidarity, peace and justice, human rights and respect for human life and the good of creation. These networks can facilitate forms of co-operation between people from different geographical and cultural contexts that enable them to deepen their common humanity and their sense of shared responsibility for the good of all. We must, therefore, strive to ensure that the digital world, where such networks can be established, is a world that is truly open to all. It would be a tragedy for the future of humanity if the new instruments of communication, which permit the sharing of knowledge and information in a more rapid and effective manner, were not made accessible to those who are already economically and socially marginalized, or if it should contribute only to increasing the gap separating the poor from the new networks that are developing at the service of human socialization and information..."



How can online friendship be lived in a positive and constructive manner?
The Pope’s message offers us some concrete proposals that can be identified within the new digital network. In particular the Net provides the possibility to promote:
- human solidarity
- peace
- justice
- human rights
- respect for life
- the good of creation

Thanks to the digital and social networks it is already possible to promote cooperation among who are diverse and far away from each other from a cultural and geographic perspective, above all through the sharing of common experiences and the co-responsibility for the good of all men and women.

From this point of view it is very important to keep watch to make sure that networks are truly accessible to all and not concentrated in particular geographic or political regions, or only in the hands a a few powerful people.

Knowledge, information, the speed of its distribution online, cannot be goods that are kept away from some sections of the world population. In fact the risk is that such networks could increase instead of decrease the cultural and economic gap among peoples. This phenomenon is called the “digital divide”.