Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI sent his very first tweet. According to BBC News, the Pope tweeted, “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus VXI.”
The Pope sent the post via iPad and his Twitter account already has more than 33,000 follower. He “follows” no one, says BBC News. This marks the early stages of Pope Benedict XVI, 84, entering cyberspace to spread Roman Catholicism. Although the Pope does use the internet and computers, he still handwrites his speeches, rather than typing them on a computer, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
News.va is a new website for the Vatican.
According to Herald Sun, The Vatican has been using social media recently to get the church’s message across to more people, including the youth population of the world. The first move to move into the social world was in March in the form of a Facebook page dedicated to the beatification of Pope John Paul II.
Monsignor Paul Tighe, the No. 2 of the Vatican’s social communications office, told FOX News that “This is a beginning, in a simple way, of allowing the Pope to interact with the questions of the people and allowing people a direct form of access to the Pope. With time, we’ll see how different initiatives can develop, but the commitment there is to interactivity, to engagement.”
Film was shot, and pictures were taken while the Pope tweeted. He was surrounded by Vatican officials that helped him to work and use the iPad.
