VATICAN CITY, DEC. 18, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Pope Benedict XVI’s Twitter account, @Pontifex, has surpassed two million followers since the account was opened two weeks ago. The first Papal tweets were sent out in eight languages moments after his General Audience last Wednesday.
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said that the Holy Father wanted to be present in the latest platforms of communication to share with them «words of truth.»
Despite the 140 character limit for tweets, Archbishop Celli reiterated the statement he made at the press conference announcing the new account, stressing that it «is not so much the number of characters available but the depth of the words he uses.»
The Archbishop told Vatican Radio that we could all stand to re-learn how to communicate using words «that always have a profound significance for others.» Archbishop Celli also noted that with the more than 140 million people actively on Twitter, 40% of them between the ages of 18-34, the social micro-blogging site would give the Holy Father an opportunity to dialogue with them.
«The Pope and the Church want to be where men and women are speaking together because not only are they sharing information, they’re also sharing a bit of themselves,» Archbishop Celli said.
The President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication also said that 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.
