Pope Tweets for the First Time

What better day to do it than 12/12/12?




Pope Benedict XVI addressed his more than 838,000 Twitter followers today for the first time, posting five messages in the early morning hours.

"Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter," he wrote in his first message via @Pontifex.  "Thank you for your generous response.  I bless all of you from my heart."

The 85-year-old religious leader officially joined the micro-blogging service early this month, planning to answer questions about faith from those who use the hashtag #AskPontifex.  His Holiness will tweet in eight languages from eight different feeds, including English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Polish, and Arabic.  Hours after the Vatican's Dec. 3 announcement, the Pope already had more than 171,000 followers on his English account alone.