Catholic Online Forum

Could be devastating if he turns over the Tweeting to the "Vatican spokespeople" who have been responsible for so many dumb comments in the past.

Although Benedict himself won’t be worrying about the technicalities and won’t be seen regularly checking his account, he will be selecting the messages to tweet and he does see it as a vital way of promoting a more personal and active dialogue of faith with men and women today.

Figures show over 500 million people now have Twitter accounts and at least a quarter of them are using it as their main means of daily communication. Before December 12th they can send questions to the Pope on issues of faith, some of which he’ll try and answer with his first tweets that you can watch in real time during his general audience that day. The account goes live in eight languages to start with and the official name or handle for English language users is simply @pontifex (with #askpontifex if you want to send in a question of faith).

Hateful people are sending the Pope nasty comments.

I think this was a bad idea.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/12/03/pope ... ul-tweets/

Set your face like flint.

Hateful people are sending the Pope nasty comments.

I think this was a bad idea.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/12/03/pope ... ul-tweets/

I have to admit I am not a Twitter use, but perhaps I'll come one and starting following the Holy Father.

Regarding the haters....well, I better not say what I'm thinking.

The new tweeter came out on the digital continent to tweet. Some inhabitants on the continent said: “What is this intruder doing here? In this field we are the only ones who know what it is and how to tweet!”. And they made fun of him and turned their backs. Other inhabitants said: “Interesting and fun! Let’s see if he will have more followers than other VIPs, actors or footballers! And they made their considerations on the numbers, but they didn’t think of what the tweets were saying and after a while they lost interest. Others said: “Ok. There’s someone out there who wants to tell us things that they consider important for every one of us. We will all be watching to see and hear, and we will be happy to tweet back, to our friends who are searching like us”. And the tweets bore fruit and multiplied, by thirty, by sixty, percent… Those who have ears, may they hear.

So what has Papa tweeted so far?

I'm looking forward to the Holy Father's first tweet.

And the tweets bore fruit and multiplied, by thirty, by sixty, percent… Those who have ears, may they hear

I'm looking forward to the Holy Father's first tweet.

Do we have to "join" Twitter to read tweets?

For celebrities, it can be a way to see what they think and say directly rather than in a PR context...

It's official. Pope Benedict XVI has joined Twitter and will begin tweeting from @pontifex.

The Vatican said on Monday the Pope would start tweeting on December 12, the feast of the Madonna of Guadalupe.

No Tweets yet ... did Pope Benedict fall asleep?

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.

Pope Benedict XVI blessed his new internet flock with his first Twitter message to the million-plus followers already signed up to receive the holy tweets.

Since the Pope last week announced he would start tweeting under his official Latin title @pontifex, more than 650,000 people have registered to follow his main account in English.

"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," read the 85-year-old's first tweet, sent from a tablet at the end of his weekly general audience.

The tweet was followed shortly by two more, which encouraged followers to read the scriptures.

The Pope so far also has 174,000 followers for his Spanish account, 96,000 in Italian, 25,000 in Portuguese, 19,000 in German, 18,000 in French, 10,000 in Polish and 7,000 in Arabic.

Within 40 minutes, his first English-language tweet was retweeted 15,600 times.

Father Antonio Spadaro, director of the Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica and one of the Church's Twitter pioneers, said the Pope's first tweet was comparable to the first papal radio broadcast by Pius XI on February 12, 1931.

Twitter: Pope passes 2 million followers

Five days have passed since Pope Benedict XVI sent out his first Tweet in eight languages and according to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, his @Pontifex handle has surpassed two million subscribers.

President of the Council, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli told Vatican Radio the Pope is tweeting because that’s what people are doing today and he wants to be present in the latest platforms of communication to share with them “words of truth.”

...And, he notes the Church must do all it can to bridge the “digital divide” in Africa and certain areas of Latin America and Asia where access to social media is greatly limited.

Is he tweeting only in English, or in multiple languages?

Everyone’s life of faith has times of light, but also times of darkness. If you want to walk in the light, let the word of God be your guide.

Computers have translators now, so I'm sure that most that have a Twitter account can read it in multiple languages.

The translators I've seen are not very good.

Or you could look at who the Holy Father follows;
The other 7 feeds in other languages.

Including Arabic. Clearly the Holy Father is a closet Muslim.

Not at all. I've put my foot in my mouth a thousand times or more, but not that time.

I was ridiculing those who think that a public figure is a closet Muslim because of some made up criteria.

Not at all. I've put my foot in my mouth a thousand times or more, but not that time.

I was ridiculing those who think that a public figure is a closet Muslim because of some made up criteria.

Pontifex breviloquens: a tweeting pope!

Latin, the universal language of the Catholic Church, becomes the ninth language used for the Pope's tweets.

The Pope finally sent out his first tweet in Latin from his Twitter account @Pontifex_ln on Sunday, January 20, 2013: “Unitati christifidelium integre studentes quid iubet Dominus? Orare semper, iustitiam factitare, amare probitatem, humiles Secum ambulare.”

The Pope immediately followed it up with translations into the languages of his other Twitter accounts. He translated the Latin via his English language account @Pontifex this way: “What does the Lord ask of us as we work for Christian unity? To pray constantly, do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with Him.”

But the news service Reuters performed a valuable service by quoting the University of Cambridge scholar Tamer Nawar, who teased out a more nuanced translation of the Latin: “What does the Lord command to those wholly eager for the unity of those following Christ? To always pray, to continually do justice, to love uprightness, to walk humbly with Him.”

Perhaps my favorite part of the Pope’s inaugural Latin tweet is his use of the verb “factitare” in relation to “justice”, since “factitare” has the connotation of “to make or do frequently; to be wont to make or do; to practice.”

Indeed, I’m very happy with the Pope’s first Latin tweet, but I was in a bit of a sour mood because of the press coverage leading up to it. That coverage had me wishing for the impossible, that the Pope’s first Latin tweet would be a sarcastic: “ROMANES EUNT DOMUS”.

Nah.

The real reason [Pope Benedict retired] was Twitter.

At the same time as Pope Benedict XVI leaves office on February 28, his Twitter presence as @Pontifex will also come to an end, according to Vatican Radio.

Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me.
Pope Francis.