Tech-Savvy Priest Creates a Minecraft Server for the Vatican

A Catholic priest, Father Robert Ballacer, recently created the Vatican's first-ever Minecraft server for non-toxic gaming. The saying to 'never judge a book by its cover' couldn't be more accurate in this context.

When you think of a priest, and Minecraft, you usually don't tend to put the two together. But, priests just like any other person on Earth have interests outside of their 'work', so why not technology and Minecraft? 

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A server for toxic-free gaming

Former tech blogger and currently a Catholic priest, Father Ballacer launched the Vatican Minecraft server with the primary hope that it will create a community where creativity thrives. 

It all started with a Twitter post from Father Ballacer in which he asked his 23,000 or so followers to answer his poll. He asked which game he should create a server for Minecraft, RUST, Ark, or Team Fortress 2. 

Ok... I want to spin up a few servers in the Vatican for gamers who want a little less "toxic" and a bit more community.

What should be my first server?

— Fr. Robert R. Ballecer, SJ (@padresj) August 31, 2019

Minecraft came on top with 64%, so, Ballacer moved forward with creating the server. 

The priest explained to Rome Reports that building relationships among players all while enabling a creative space to happen are his main aims with the Minecraft server. 

Don't expect to play with or against the Pope on the server at any point, as he's perhaps too busy, although coming from a very different generation when gaming wasn't an option may also play a big part in that. 

Father Ballacer's creation goes to show just how well Minecraft is still doing, 10 years after it was first launched. The game's popularity has ebbed and flowed over the decade, and recently has been seeing a resurgence, made all the more clear through the 64% of votes from Father Ballacer's Twitter poll.

Try it out for yourself and see just how creative you can be, as well as hopefully meeting some supportive and fun people to play with.