Heaven sent: Pope sends followers his first tweet

(GETTY IMAGES)

Pope Benedict XVI took his first baby steps in the world of Twitter yesterday, tweeting news of the launch of the Vatican's new website, and exposing his roots deep in the last century. It began "Dear friends," and included the phrase "Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ!"

Benedict may not be as charismatic a communicator as his predecessor but he has tirelessly urged his fellow prelates to make all possible use of the new media. He has already pioneered the Vatican's presence on Facebook and made podcasts in advance of his trip to Portugal last year.

On the Church's World Communications Day last year he urged priests to "make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications". Turning lyrical, he said the Christian message "can traverse the many crossroads created by the intersection of all the different 'highways' that form cyberspace".

The new website brings together papal tweets (only the one so far), YouTube videos, Flickr photos and Facebook links in a smorgasbord of new media offerings.

However there is a limit to his enthusiasm. The Pope's tweets will attract plenty of attention, but there does not appear to be anybody he himself considers worth following.