Pope Francis joins Instagram


Get ready for the Papal selfies! Pontiff posted his first photo today, which he captioned 'Pray for me' 

Pope Francis has taken things a step further by joining photo-sharing app Instagram - posting photos under the name @franciscus.

He's known for embracing technology trends - including Twitter and selfies.

The popular pontiff said in a tweet sent this morning: 'I am beginning a new journey, on Instagram, to walk with you along the path of mercy and the tenderness of God.'

And he was keen to share his first photo - one of him bowed in prayer, accompanied by the words 'Pray for me', something he asks his followers to do regularly. 

The pope is already a keen user of Twitter, where he tweets under the name @pontifex.

But this will be a new foray into Instagram, which currently has over 400 million users.

Francis holds one of the most popular Twitter accounts, with 8.89m followers, but only time will tell if his Instagram popularity will match some of the app's most prolific users, including Selena Gomez, who holds the most followers at nearly 70 million.

The Pope amassed over 58,000 followers in just minutes after setting up his Instagram this morning.

And he proved that he is in touch with his global audience by captioning his very first photo on the site with nine different languages, including French, Spanish and German.

It is not known whether Francis used any of the app's popular filters to edit his image. 

And the CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, was on hand in the Vatican City to help the Pope with any technical difficulties he may have had.

In an Instagram post of the pair shaking hands, Mr Systrom wrote: 'Watching Pope Francis post his first photo to Instagram today was an incredible moment.

"@Franciscus, welcome to the Instagram community! Your messages of humility, compassion and mercy will leave a lasting mark."

The social media is embracing the pope with already over 8 million Twitter followers.


SOURCE: Dailymail