by InTrieste
Pope Leo XIV has embraced the tradition of papal social media engagement, maintaining an active presence on both X and Instagram through the official @Pontifex accounts. The move marks a continuation of a digital initiative begun over a decade ago, aimed at sharing the Pope’s message with a global audience.
The @Pontifex handle on X, formerly known as Twitter, has been passed down from Pope Benedict XVI, who launched the account on December 12, 2012, to Pope Francis, and now to Pope Leo XIV. The multilingual platform—available in nine languages including English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Latin—reaches a combined audience of 52 million followers.
As part of the transition, content posted by Pope Francis will be archived on a dedicated section of the Vatican’s official website, Vatican.va. The archived material reflects a significant social media presence, with roughly 50,000 posts shared over the course of his pontificate. These posts, often short reflections or calls to action, focused on themes such as peace, social justice, and environmental stewardship.
On Instagram, Pope Leo XIV will use the account @Pontifex – Pope Leo XIV. The previous account, @Franciscus, launched by Pope Francis in 2016, will remain online in a commemorative format titled Ad Memoriam, preserving his visual and pastoral outreach for public access.
Pope Francis’ tenure on social media was marked by high levels of engagement, particularly during moments of global crisis. In 2020, a year shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, papal messages across platforms garnered 27 billion views.
The continuation of the papal presence online underscores the Vatican’s ongoing commitment to digital communication as a pastoral tool, with Pope Leo XIV now stepping into the role of engaging with the faithful through modern means.
