A Spanish nun has been kicked out of the religious order where she lived the last 35 years in seclusion after spending too much time on the social networking site Facebook.
Maria Jesus Galan, nicknamed "Sister Internet" by her fellow nuns, announced on her Facebook page that she had been asked to leave the convent after disagreements over her online activities.
The 54 year-old, who lists her hobbies as "reading, music, art, and making friends" had almost 600 Facebook "friends" at the time of her eviction and now has fan pages with thousands of supporters from around the globe calling for her to be allowed back into the order.
A computer was first brought on to the premises of the 14th century Santo Domingo el Real convent in Toledo, central Spain 10 years ago after the mother superior was persuaded that it would lessen the need for nuns to enter the outside world.
"It enabled us do things such as banking online and saved us having to make trips into the city," explained Sister Maria, who entered as a novice at the age of 21.
However, the nun quickly saw the possibilities and soon began digitising the archives contained within the convent's ancient walls and making them accessible to the world. In 2008, she won a local government prize for her painstaking work scanning the pages of precious texts held in the convent's library.
The award made headlines and she soon had scores of friends worldwide connecting through her Facebook page.
Despite saying that her dedication to her vocation was as strong as ever she said that she was driven from the convent by other nuns who disapproved of her cyber activity and "made life impossible".
The Dominican order has refused to comment on her departure and the Archbishop of Toledo when approached said it was "an internal matter".
Sister Maria, who is now living at her mother's house, said she was ready to embark on a new chapter in her life.
"I would like to visit London and New York," she posted on her page. "Such things were impossible to even dream when at the convent."
It is not the first time that the Internet has caused problems for religious authorities in Toledo.
Last year, a parish priest was removed from his post after it emerged that he had used the Internet to advertise himself as a male prostitute.
Samuel Martin Martin, 27, posted images of himself wearing only grey underpants and said he was available for sex sessions with women and couples for euros 120 (pounds 100) an hour. It also emerged that he had spent euros 17,000 (pounds 15,000) of church money to fund his addiction to Internet sex and pornography.
Mr Martin's church asked the congregation to forgive their priest "because he was unwell".
The Pope has previously warned of the dangers of social networking sites, urging people not to stop face-to-face conversations in place of online communication.
"Virtual contact cannot and should not be a substitute for direct human contact with people at all levels of our society," Benedict XVI said in a text published last month to mark World Communications Day.
© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph
Maria Jesus Galan, nicknamed "Sister Internet" by her fellow nuns, announced on her Facebook page that she had been asked to leave the convent after disagreements over her online activities.
The 54 year-old, who lists her hobbies as "reading, music, art, and making friends" had almost 600 Facebook "friends" at the time of her eviction and now has fan pages with thousands of supporters from around the globe calling for her to be allowed back into the order.
A computer was first brought on to the premises of the 14th century Santo Domingo el Real convent in Toledo, central Spain 10 years ago after the mother superior was persuaded that it would lessen the need for nuns to enter the outside world.
"It enabled us do things such as banking online and saved us having to make trips into the city," explained Sister Maria, who entered as a novice at the age of 21.
However, the nun quickly saw the possibilities and soon began digitising the archives contained within the convent's ancient walls and making them accessible to the world. In 2008, she won a local government prize for her painstaking work scanning the pages of precious texts held in the convent's library.
The award made headlines and she soon had scores of friends worldwide connecting through her Facebook page.
Despite saying that her dedication to her vocation was as strong as ever she said that she was driven from the convent by other nuns who disapproved of her cyber activity and "made life impossible".
The Dominican order has refused to comment on her departure and the Archbishop of Toledo when approached said it was "an internal matter".
Sister Maria, who is now living at her mother's house, said she was ready to embark on a new chapter in her life.
"I would like to visit London and New York," she posted on her page. "Such things were impossible to even dream when at the convent."
It is not the first time that the Internet has caused problems for religious authorities in Toledo.
Last year, a parish priest was removed from his post after it emerged that he had used the Internet to advertise himself as a male prostitute.
Samuel Martin Martin, 27, posted images of himself wearing only grey underpants and said he was available for sex sessions with women and couples for euros 120 (pounds 100) an hour. It also emerged that he had spent euros 17,000 (pounds 15,000) of church money to fund his addiction to Internet sex and pornography.
Mr Martin's church asked the congregation to forgive their priest "because he was unwell".
The Pope has previously warned of the dangers of social networking sites, urging people not to stop face-to-face conversations in place of online communication.
"Virtual contact cannot and should not be a substitute for direct human contact with people at all levels of our society," Benedict XVI said in a text published last month to mark World Communications Day.
© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph