VATICAN CITY. Pope Leo XIV made a notable return to social media on Tuesday, reviving the Vatican’s official social media presence with a message centered on peace and unity.
Taking over the @Pontifex Instagram account, the newly elected pontiff posted a set of photographs capturing the early moments of his historic papacy, along with the words, “Peace be with you all!”, the same greeting he first offered to the world as pope.
The Vatican confirmed that it is now archiving all social media posts from Pope Francis’ 12-year pontificate, making way for Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church, to take over the digital mantle.
While the Vatican’s @Pontifex presence on X (formerly Twitter) was not yet active as of Tuesday, the social media team indicated updates will soon follow. The multilingual platform, originally launched in 2012 under Pope Benedict XVI, now operates in nine languages, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Polish, Arabic, and Latin, and has amassed a global following of 52 million users.
Unlike past popes whose messages were posted on their behalf by the Vatican’s communication team, Pope Leo XIV is expected to have more direct input, especially given his prior engagement online. When he was still Cardinal Robert Prevost, he maintained a personal X account since 2011, which had been dormant since July 2023, but became active again earlier this year. In recent months, that account had posted critical commentary on Trump-era immigration policies and remarks made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
As Pope Leo XIV steps into a role that is both spiritual and increasingly digital, his first social media message underscores a clear theme for his papacy, one that begins with peace.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
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