Prolific poster Leo XIV inherits papal media accounts
Pope Leo XIV gestures during an audience to representatives of the media at The Vatican, on May 12, 2025. As pontiff, he will inherit the official @Pontifex accounts on X used by his predecessor Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI before him. — AFP
VATICAN CITY: His election may have been announced with white smoke, but Pope Leo XIV will communicate with the Catholic faithful on X and Instagram, the Vatican said on May 13.
Robert Prevost was a regular user of X, formerly Twitter, before last Thursday becoming the first ever US pope, unafraid to tackle prickly political issues.
Now, as pontiff, he will inherit the official @Pontifex accounts on X used by his predecessor Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI before him.
Published in nine languages – English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Polish, Arabic, and Latin – they have a total of 52 million followers, the Vatican said.
On Instagram, the new pope's only official account is called @Pontifex - Pope Leo XIV.
"The Holy Father Leo XIV has chosen to maintain an active social media presence through the official papal accounts on X and Instagram," the Vatican said in a statement.
Through his personal @drprevost account on X over the years, Prevost amplified criticism of US President Donald Trump's immigration policies, pilloried Vice President JD Vance and called for racial justice.
If the content published by Pope Francis is any guide, Leo's papal posts are likely to be less controversial, comprising mostly excerpts of prayers and homilies.
His first Instagram post Tuesday was taken from his inaugural public address, beginning with the words: "Peace be with you all!"
The pontiff on Tuesday celebrated mass in Rome with other members of his religious order, the Augustinians, and then had lunch with them – a regular routine of his when he was a cardinal, according to Vatican News.
A small crowd gathered outside to meet him in the private visit to the order, where the spirit of community plays a key role.
Pope Benedict XVI, who led the world's Catholics between 2005 and 2013, was the first pontiff to have a then-Twitter account, launching @Pontifex on December 12, 2012.
The official Instagram account, @Franciscus, was added on March 19, 2016.
During the 12 years of the Francis papacy, the Vatican published around 50,000 posts across the @Pontifex and @Franciscus accounts.
In 2020, when interaction peaked due the coronavirus pandemic, the Argentine's messages were viewed 27 billion times, the Vatican said.
Content posted by Francis's accounts has now been archived. – AFP
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