I’m not here to knock the Vatican, but I think we all know that the Catholic Church has never been at the forefront of technological change. The events of the last seventy-two hours, however, demonstrate that the Vatican has capitalized on investments in SMS and email to communicate quickly and clearly to media and stakeholders around the world.

If the Church can build a crisis plan this effective, why not your manufacturing plant of 300 - or your consultancy of eight?

The first seeds seem to have been laid in late 2003, when the hundreds of journalists covering the Vatican were prompted to buy handheld devices (the pitch included a demo of the Blackberry) to ensure the reliable passage of news.

About the same time, the Church launched a service to deliver daily homilies by SMS to the millions of faithful around the world.

As Reuters reported Sunday, a system of SMS and email messages was used to distribute brief medical bulletins as the Pope’s condition worsened this year.

Finally, this weekend, reporters around the world seemed to hang for official notice - by SMS - of the Pope’s death. As Andy Carvin has noted, CNN even refused to confirm a report of his death because they hadn’t received an “automatic message” on their mobile.

Once again, what’s keeping your organization from exploring faster, cheaper and more effective communications vehicles? Fear of change? A fear of losing control of your messaging?

Hmmm?