As part of its increased efforts to unite the Church in Asia and around the world, the Vatican is dedicating a Chinese section of its website on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church.

Chinese "will be the eighth language to be represented on www.vatican.va, which also includes Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Latin," a statement from the Holy See’s press office says.

The new service will expand the reach of Pope Benedict’s speeches and documents to the Chinese-speaking world. The texts will be available in both traditional and simplified Chinese characters.