Pope Benedict XVI on Friday launched the Vatican's YouTube channel, seen here as a screenshot. (Associated Press)

The Vatican launched its own YouTube channel on Friday, hoping to reach out to a global audience and take back some control of the Pope's online image.

Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council of Social Communication, said Pope Benedict's image is already being used on websites, some of which present him respectfully and some of which don't.

Announced by officials from Vatican Television and Google, the channel is to be updated daily with video news clips up to two minutes long that will feature what's happening at the Vatican.

The channel already contains some clips of the pontiff, including his Christmas message. The Vatican plans to make clips available in Italian, German, English and Spanish.

"When numerous young people search for answers and meaning in their lives, you must find new ways to spread voices and images of hope through the ever-evolving communications system that surrounds our planet," the Pope says in one video message.

The site was launched the same day the pontiff praised as a "gift to humanity" the benefits of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace in forging friendships and understanding.

But he also warned that virtual socializing had its risks, saying "obsessive" online networking could isolate people from real social interaction and broaden the digital divide by further marginalizing people.

In December, the Vatican publicly embraced the iBreviary, an iTunes application created by Italian priest Rev. Paolo Padrini and an Italian web designer.

The Pope is a lover of classical music who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006 and has reached out to young people through new media. During last summer's World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, he sent out mobile phone text messages citing scripture to thousands of registered pilgrims.

With files from the Associated Press