The DeSales Media Group, the parent company of The Tablet and NET-TV, launched Pray with the Pope, a website and corresponding mobile app that allows individuals and communities to dedicate prayer time in alignment with the Holy Father’s monthly intentions.

Pray with the Pope is the first phase of a large-scale technology project designed to welcome new members to the Church and create a unified, modern Catholic experience.

The Diocese of Brooklyn has minted 20,000 medallions, or prayer coins, all of which contain a unique alphanumeric code. Recipients of the coins enter the code into the website or use the augmented reality reader embedded in the mobile app on their smartphone to “log” the coin. They can then schedule their prayer time to map it on the Prayer Wall among thousands of others, with the goal of achieving universal unbroken prayer across cultures and nations.

The next feature to be released is an interactive prayer globe, where users can view those prayers taking place in real-time as well as see where their coin has traveled. This data visualization feature uses the recently released API (application programming interface) from Google Earth and is one of the first applications of this technology.

To help spread awareness of this new tool, the Diocese of Brooklyn presented the prayer coins to the 300 young members of the diocese who travelled this week to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day. The young pilgrims passed out thousands of coins to their fellow attendees and encouraged them to log their coins and to schedule prayer time.

Long-time church supporter and celebrity Martin Sheen was the first person to receive a medallion and has expressed admiration for the project. The interview in which he receives the coin aired on “Currents” on NET- TV this past week.