82-Year-Old Pope Francis Is 'First Pope To Write a Line of Code'

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: After seeing to it that UK Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all received (widely-publicized) coding lessons, Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi noted in late 2016 that he was 'still working on Pope Francis.' GeekWire reports that Partovi was able to cross that one off his bucket list Thursday, as he helped Pope Francis become 'the first Pope to write a line of code' at a 'Programming for Peace' event organized by the Pope's foundation, Scholas Occurrentes, in Vatican City (not ready for Twitch.TV video).


'In the 21st century, computer science is a fundamental subject that all students should learn,' said Partovi, whose tech-bankrolled nonprofit has entered a partnership with Scholas to introduce children to computer science. 'Schools should teach computer science to prepare students for the future, empower children with creativity and teach how to harness technology and creativity.' The Pontiff's programming lesson comes a month after Partovi's next-door neighbor, Microsoft President and Code.org Board member Brad Smith, had a sit-down with the Pope to discuss the ethical use of AI and ways to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor nations.

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