Mobile phone users in the UK will soon be able to receive the Pope's Thought of the Day direct to their handsets via SMS.

The pontiff's Thought of the Day is derived from his homilies, messages and speeches.

The service was made available in Italy and Ireland earlier this year, and has launched in the UK through Vodafone, 02, Orange and T-Mobile.

Mobile users seeking inspiration can subscribe to the service by sending an SMS containing the words 'POPE ON' to the number 61131.

Beginning the following day, the message will be delivered to mobile handsets at noon local time seven days a week at a cost of 25p.

Ciaran Carey, northern Europe general manager at Acotel, which is providing the technology behind the project, said in a statement: "Since the service was made available in Ireland we have received several enquiries and seen a high level of interest from the UK about the Papal Thought of the Day."