{"id":1514,"date":"2013-04-05T01:40:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T01:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/pope-francis-doubles-followers-on-twitter\/"},"modified":"2013-04-05T01:40:58","modified_gmt":"2013-04-05T01:40:58","slug":"pope-francis-doubles-followers-on-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/pope-francis-doubles-followers-on-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis doubles followers on Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Francis’ online flock has doubled from 2.5 million to 5 million Twitter followers in less than a month — a third of the time it took his predecessor Benedict XVI to build up his following.<\/p>\n

The account @pontifex — the word “pope” in Latin — has tweets in nine languages including English, Spanish, Arabic and Latin. They are snippets of religious instruction rather than insights into the pontiff’s daily life.<\/p>\n

The number on all nine accounts put together went over five million for the first time on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The comments on the tweets left by followers are often irreverent and chatty, with one user asking the pope on Thursday: “How you settling in?”<\/p>\n

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Pope Francis: doubles Twitter followers<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Benedict launched the account on December 12 after encouraging Catholic Church leaders to use social media to reach a wider and more youthful audience.<\/p>\n

The Vatican has said the tweets are approved by the pope although not actually written by him and are sent from a single computer to avoid hacking.<\/p>\n

Francis’ latest tweet on Thursday reads: “God loves us. We must not be afraid to love him.” His first tweet a few days after his election read: “I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me.”<\/p>\n

On the night of his momentous election on March 13, the account had a single tweet reading “Habemus Papam Franciscum” (“We Have a Pope Francis”).<\/p>\n

The pope has shown a tradition-breaking style in his first few weeks in office and has said he wants the Church to be closer to ordinary people.<\/p>\n

The number of followers on the Spanish-language account of Latin America’s first pope has risen particularly sharply to 1.6 million, although the Argentinian was still trailing in Portuguese with 188,000 followers.<\/p>\n

The pope’s following is still a far cry from that of stars Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga — with 37 million and 35 million fans respectively.<\/p>\n

The 85-year-old Benedict sent the first papal tweet from a tablet during a general audience saying: “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.”<\/p>\n

Several leading Vatican prelates are already regular tweeters including Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture.<\/p>\n

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