Pope makes 'prayerful' debut on Twitter

WASHINGTON, U.S.: Pope Benedict XVI took a bold step into the world of social media on Wednesday, when he issued his first tweet from his personal account using the handle @Pontifex - meaning "bridge builder" in Latin, CNN reported.

"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 pope tweeted.

He followed it up with two more tweets. "How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?", which was followed by the answer: "By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need."

An hour after his first tweet, the pope had around 700,000 followers on his English account. By Thusday, it has swollen up to 1,034,088.

He is also tweeting in other languages, including Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. A Vatican official told CNN the pope would compose the tweets himself.

Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told Vatican Radio that the first tweet was "an extraordinary moment". The first tweet had more than 2,000 retweets in under two minutes.

The Pope soon followed up with, "How can faith in Jesus be lived in a world without hope?" and, an answer to that: "We can be certain that a believer is never alone. God is the solid rock upon which we build our lives and his love is always faithful."

"Any suggestions on how to be more prayerful when we are so busy with the demands of work, families and the world?" he asked in his next.

"Offer everything you do to the Lord, ask his help in all the circumstances of daily life and remember that he is always beside you," was his suggestion.

Anyone could send in a question to the pope's personal account via the hashtag #askpontifex or #B16.

Pope Benedict had last year launched the official Vatican news site on Twitter, @news_va_en, CNN said.

John Paul II, who preceded Benedict, was the first pontiff to use the Internet. Pope Pius XI made the first papal radio broadcast in 1931. His successor, Pope Pius XII, made the first papal TV appearance in 1946.