Pope Benedict XVI recently touted online social networking technologies as a "gift to humanity." But from the Church's point of view, the question remains: Are these sites faith-neutral, or are they a positive force?

In our Feb. 8 issue, Dennis Poust explores the Catholic presence on Facebook, which is among the most-popular social networking locales on the web; and conducted all of his interviews exclusively through the site:

"When Pope Benedict XVI offered praise recently for the "digital generation," and specifically the potential of the fast-growing social networking scene, he was not so much urging a new evangelization as he was acknowledging that it already exists in full force.

"Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and others have transformed the way young people (and, increasingly, the over-30 set) communicate with each other. It is also rapidly transforming how Catholics interact with each other across the globe and how they approach evangelization. Read more.