The nine @pontifex Twitter accounts reached over three million followers just before 8 pm on Thursday, when the accounts were officially made inactive as the Sede Vacante started.
The final boost in followers involved three languages mainly: English, Spanish and Italian.
Around 5:15 pm Benedict XVI sent his last tweet: «Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives.»
Now the next pope will decide on the future use of the Twitter handles.
The archived tweets of Benedict XVI can be found here: www.news.va/en/twitter_archive.
