It came to my attention over the weekend that the Pope has an iPhone and that the Vatican has launched a huge social media campaign.

Released last week, an iPhone app, called H2Onews, is part of a Catholic news wire project sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. It serves up an impressive stream of writings, audio, and videos news. And that’s just the beginning: Benedict XVI’s got a Facebook app, YouTube Channel and a Wiki!

With the wane of religion worldwide it will be interesting to see how the Vatican, will fare using the less direct approach of social media to expand it’s reach.  Hopefully the church can use this as a springboard of reform and brings itself up to date on various issues.

What does this mean for social media and you?  It means that one of the largest, most influential and wealthiest institutions see the benefit in using this platform and these tools to grow and prosper.  You should too.