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Vatican reactivates pope's @Pontifex Twitter account
The pope's Twitter handle is live again as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio steps up to lead the Catholic Church and sends his first tweet.
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Screenshot by Donna Tam/CNET)
As the Vatican taps Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to lead the Catholic Church, the pope's Twitter account has been reactivated. Bergoglio's first official Tweet as @Pontifex was "Habemus papam franciscum," which means, "We have a Pope Francis."
Apparently, the account was actually the Vatican's official account, but was changed to @Pontifex after a the new pope was chosen, according to CBS News.
The original @Pontifex Twitter account went into hibernation this past month in light of Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign from the papacy due to health reasons.
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Pope Benedict XVI joined Twitter in December, garnering more than 1.5 million followers before he ended his tweeting. @Pontifex now has more than 1.6 million followers.
Update, 1:08 a.m. PT : Updated with more details about the new account.
