VATICAN CITY - It's been a long time coming, but Pope Benedict XVI has finally graced the world with his first few tweets. Two weeks after establishing his Twitter handle, @Pontifex (Latin for "Pope") in eight different languages, he finally sent out some 140-character blessings Wednesday morning :
Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.
— Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) December 12, 2012
How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?
— Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) December 12, 2012
By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need
— Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) December 12, 2012
At the time of writing, 700,187 people were following his English-language account. The second most-followed language is Spanish with at least 215,991 followers. The smallest following is in Arabic with 8,281 followers.
@thomasherve14 via Twitter
Here are five different reactions to the Pope's first tweets:
Disappointed:
Well, after all that build up @pontifex has tweeted.Some dull religious nonsense. Not even a photo of his dinner. Doing Twitter wrong.
— Al Terry (@fudgecrumpet) December 12, 2012
Disappointed @pontifex's 1st tweet not in Latin! Surely - "Carissimi: impetro in tactu in vobis per Twitter" :) #pope #schooldays
— Jon Williams(@WilliamsJon) December 12, 2012
A bit disappointed with the Pope's first tweet. After all that hype,I was expecting him to tell us who killed Biggie and Tupac.
— Jay.Jazzi (@JayJazzi) December 12, 2012
Ecstatic:
HEY @pontifex I JUST TWEET YOU AND THIS IS CRAZY, BUT HERE'S MY TUMBLR SO CALL ME MAYBE.
— Pete McVries (@PeteMcVries) December 12, 2012
@pontifex please follow me! You'll love to RT me... and BTW Merry Christmas!
— Alex Murashko (@AlexMurashko) December 12, 2012
OMG the Pope is tech-savvy! He is interacting with his followers! He just asked his first Twitter question!
— Miguel Lago (@jm_lago) December 12, 2012
@pontifex @mediaduemila Nella storia! Nel presente! Nel futuro! Con il primo tweet il #Papa è una persona digitale! Benvenuto, Santità!
— Antonio Irlando (@AntonioIrlando) December 12, 2012
[In history! In the present! In the future! With his first tweet, the Pope is a digital person. Welcome, Holiness!]
Whatever:
Dear CNN, the Pope making a twitter account is not news.
— Julia Lasagna (@fapnapkin) December 12, 2012
Snarky:
Thsi @pontifex is tweeting from an iPad. How materialistic of him.
— Ganju Patel (@shubHASHISH) December 12, 2012
“@pontifex: How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?” - is the answer 'bacon'?
— An.d.re (@AndreTheViking) December 12, 2012
@pontifex Or…you know…have a less confused and corrupted mythic belief system.
— Damien Walter (@damiengwalter) December 12, 2012
Pope only follows his own twitter accounts... and I thought some of you have problems
— Jimmy(@kariuki_njoroge) December 12, 2012
Pape @pontifex_fr sur Twitter: L'Église s'ouvre enfin à la technologie. Et le condom latex? On dit que ça peut sauver des vies en Afrique...
— Camille Grenier (@CamGrenier) December 12, 2012
[the Pope @pontifex_fr on Twitter: The Church finally opens up to technology. And latex condoms? You know it could save lives in Africa... ]
Bro'ing it up with the Holy Father:
@pontifex Big up yuhself, Popie...JAH Guide and Protect.
— DJ Wayne (@DJWizzzle) December 12, 2012
@pontifex right on bro
— rsidney (@rdotsidney) December 12, 2012
@pontifex Wag1 g. U kool yeh?
— John McDonnell (@thewebsiteyep) December 12, 2012
