Pope Twitter Account Sends First Tweet Since Pope Francis Elected

New Pope's First Tweet

The Vatican wasted no time returning to Twitter after the new pope was chosen, resurrecting the official account that was scraped of content when Pope Benedict XVI stepped down.

This is the first tweet on the reactivated @Pontifex Twitter account since the election of Pope Francis:

HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM

— Pontifex (@Pontifex) March 13, 2013

"Habemus Papam" translates roughly to "We have a pope."

The first tweet on the papal account under Pope Francis came about three months after the first tweet from a Pope ever.

Pope Benedict XVI's first tweet on Dec. 12, 2012 read: "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."

The first papal tweet was retweeted more than 30,000 times prior to its deletion from Twitter. The new pope's tweet quickly surpassed that with 40,000 retweets just minutes after it was posted.

Meanwhile, a fake Twitter account also began making the rounds with the new pope's name on it. @JMBergoglio skyrocketed from a few thousand followers to more than 100,000 in less than an hour after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was announced as the new Pope.

As Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post notes, if you scroll back through tweets, it's clear it's a parody account. Reuters executive editor Jim Roberts was among the journalists to debunk it.

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