Denver, Colo., Mar 26, 2013 / 01:09 am
A Vatican-sponsored news application for smart phones known as "The Pope App" has risen to the top of the charts in the iTunes store, reflecting a spike in interest in the papacy and newly-elected Pope Francis.
In the last week, The Pope App is the most-downloaded news app for iPhone in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Venezuela, Peru, Poland, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, and Pope Francis' home country of Argentina.
It is the second most downloaded news app in France and Germany and the third most downloaded in Germany. The app also ranks in the top ten in eight other countries, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications said March 23.
The Pope App is managed by the Pontifical Council and uses content from www.news.va, the Vatican's multimedia, multilingual news portal.