Pope launches his own Twitter account

4 Dec 2012, 7:47 pm   -   Source: AAP
Share This
0 
+ Comment
0

Pope Benedict XVI will send his first tweet next week and he's being asked to address the thorny issue of who should replace Ricky Ponting in the Test batting line-up.

RELATED

Pope Benedict XVI will send his first tweet next week and he's being asked to address the thorny issue of who should replace Ricky Ponting in the Test batting line-up.

The 85-year-old pontiff launched his pontifex Twitter handle on Monday night (AEDT) and will send his first tweet on December 12, during a question and answer session with devotees.

The Vatican has asked for a series of questions to be sent to his holiness via the #askpontifex hashtag, a selection of which he'll answer next week.

And Cricket Australia didn't hesitate to ask for divine inspiration with one its most pressing questions.

"With suggestions flying around, we want to ask you Pope Benedict XVI pontifex - who do you think should replace Ricky Ponting? #askpontifex," Cricket Australia tweeted.

Whether the Pope, who is not known for his expertise on slip cordons or batting line-ups, actually answers is up for debate.

What is certain is that the new papal Twitter account is a hit. It gained 2000 followers seconds after launching and by Tuesday afternoon there were 307,000. By way of comparison, Kevin Rudd - one of Australia's first and most popular Twitter identities - has just over 1,175,447 followers.

The Catholic Church in Australia welcomed the new account and said its popularity demonstrated people still held the church in high esteem.

"The fact that the Pope has nearly 300,000 followers after just two days says much for the power of this medium, and the faith that people still have in the church," a spokesman said. Editor of Australian Catholics magazine, Michael McVeigh, also welcomed the new account.

"With a click of a button on his mobile phone, he'll be able to reach more people than were at World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008," Mr McVeigh told AAP. He expects Pope Benedict to offer his followers spiritual guidance rather than cricketing advice.

Pope Benedict XVI , Twitter

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.