To launch the Vatican's new news portal, news.va, Pope Benedict XVI sent his first tweet:
Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI
The Pope sent the tweet using an iPad. News.va's top headline boasted: "A Historic Tweet."
But perhaps the most interesting part of all of this is a video we found through CNN Money's tumblr page. It shows Archbishop Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, guiding the pontiff through the new site. There's an audible "Ahhh" from the 84-year-old Pope when the iPad is turned on:
The video also shows that the Pope just pressed the send button on the iPad. The tweet was actually prepared for him, CNN reports.
CNN adds:
The pope himself may be new to Twitter, but the Vatican has been reasonably web-savvy for years, including launching an iPhone app and a Facebook page for the beatification of Pope John Paul II this year.