Less than a week after Pope Leo XIV took the helm as head of the Roman Catholic Church, he is already making the first social media posts of his papacy and promising to maintain an active digital presence.
First Tuesday on Instagram and then a day later on X, Leo shared an excerpt from his first public address after his election on May 8. The Instagram post included several photos from the first few days of his pontificate and in less than 24 hours had already garnered over a million likes.
"Peace be with you all!" Leo wrote. "This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world."
According to Vatican News, the Dicastery for Communication said in a press release that the official @Pontifex account on X had over 52 million followers across nine languages.
As Leo begins his papacy, some 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide will be looking to him for guidance on important issues like immigration, abortion, capital punishment, and the Church’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community.
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Like some of his predecessors, Leo also had a presence on social media before his election — which could offer some clues to his beliefs and priorities as pontiff. He is known for sharing many of former Pope Francis’ views, including on topics like immigration, the climate, and more.
The first pope on social media was Pope Benedict XVI, who sent messages via the official papal account on what was then Twitter starting in 2012. Benedict's successor Pope Francis drove a significant expansion online, approving thousands of messages not just for Twitter but also on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
