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Pope Benedict XVI wishes supporters "blessings" in first tweet

Published Thursday, Jun 30 2011, 16:48 BST | By Justin Harp | 6 comments

Pope Benedict XVI has wished his followers well in his first ever Twitter message.

While the message was prepared earlier by a staff member, the pontiff personally sent the tweet from his iPad, Vatican spokesperson Rev Federico Lombardi told CNN.

The Pope's first foray on to Twitter came on the same day as a new Vatican website was launched to expand the influence of the church in cyberspace.

Pope Benedict XVI posted: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI."

The inaugural tweet came in commemoration of Pope Benedict XVI's 60th anniversary of being ordained as as Catholic priest.

The religious leader did not set up his own Twitter account, but instead chose to post his greeting on the Vatican news service's page, which has gained 22,000 new followers since the message was uploaded.

Pope Benedict XVI, who was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in Bavaria, assumed the highest post in the Catholic church following the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to take part in a televised question-and-answer session.

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Watch footage of Pope Benedict XVI tweeting below: