pontifex

Vatican reactivates pope's @Pontifex Twitter account

As the Vatican taps Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to lead the Catholic Church, the pope's Twitter account has been reactivated. Bergoglio's first official Tweet as @Pontifex was "Habemus papam franciscum," which means, "We have a Pope Francis."

Apparently, the account was actually the Vatican's official account, but was changed to @Pontifex after a the new pope was chosen, according to CBS News.

The original @Pontifex Twitter account went into hibernation this past month in light of Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign from the papacy due to health reasons.

Pope Benedict XVI … Read more

After resigning from papacy, Pope leaves Twitter

Pope Benedict XVI might have only joined Twitter in December, but he's already saying so long to the social network.

According to CNN, Vatican Radio announced today that the Pope's postings on @Pontifex will officially end on February 28 when he ends his reign as the leader of the Catholic Church. Vatican Radio reportedly said that Benedict's last tweet will come on February 27.

It's no surprise that the Pope's tweets will be ending. Earlier this month, Benedict announced that he'd be resigning from the papacy at the end of the month due to … Read more

For the Pope on Twitter, many slings and arrows

When you come down from on high and mix with us, les miserables, it can be a touch depressing.

For though you try to take us seriously, we may not feel the same way. And, well, social media allows us to express our feelings without fear of permanent damnation.

Pope Benedict XVI, famously a recent convert to Twitter, is discovering that mixing with us isn't always pretty.

His Holiness -- and his almost equally holy advisers -- surely believes that one has to speak to the faithful through every available channel.

And yet this entails encountering the unfaithful too: … Read more