New media technologies including the Internet are helping “create a great family that knows no boundaries,” said Pope Benedict XVI in a video posted on the new site.

The main featured video showed Pope Benedict XVI delivering on a recent Sunday Angelus prayer from his Apostolic Palace above St Peter’s Square. In it he prayed for peace in the Gaza Strip.

In the message Benedict praised the opportunities for “dialogue” which the Internet offers to people from different countries, cultures and religions.

The site, which was developed jointly with internet search-engine company Google – owner of YouTube.Google says it is offering the site free of charge to the Vatican and will not make money from it in any other way. [Youtube link]