MONTREAL, July 18 (UPI) -- The first Canadian Roman Catholic priest to start blogging is about to become Canada's youngest bishop, officials say.
The Rev. Thomas Dowd, 40, will be ordained as auxiliary bishop of Montreal Sept 10 at Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, The Globe and Mail reported Sunday.
Dowd joined the priesthood in 1995 after leaving his job as manager of the global integration and verification organization Ericsson Research Canada as the "call of God" was too strong.
"I was very fortunate. I was 24, manager of a global organization. I had my career ahead of me and I decided I had to change and follow the calling of my heart," he said.
Dowd, a pioneer of the utilization of social media in the church, launched his blog, Waiting in Joyful Hope, at fatherdowd.net in 2003.
"The pope is on Twitter. The blog really is a way to build community," Dowd said.
"Perhaps it's a generational change that is occurring. It's good to have fresh perspectives on things."
