WILKES-BARRE – Students at King’s College busy preparing for finals told Newswatch 16 that they were surprised to see that Pope Benedict XVI had written and sent his first tweet to the masses Wednesday morning.
History was made at the Vatican, when the pontiff used an iPad to send his first message to more than 800,000 followers through the popular social media network.
Pope Benedict tweeted “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.”
Kings College senior Rhina Navarro told Newswatch 16 that she was surprised to see that the Pontiff was technologically advanced.
“You wouldn't think something like that would ever happen, so I think it's pretty cool,” said Navarro. “(Twitter) attracts so much of the younger population, so to see someone of a religious figure like that, it will probably attract them more.”
Freshman Kerrie Curnuck said she follows friends and celebrities on Twitter, but plans to add Pope Benedict XVI to the list.
“I think that'd be phenomenal,” said Curnuck. “I think that'd be so cool to see what he had to say about everything, about the school and everything in general.”
While packing to return home for winter break, King’s College Senior Sean Krutsick joked about feeling guilty for not following the Pope on Twitter.
“I was stunned because it's the Pope. You don't expect him to be in the technological world,” said Krutsick. “It's the Pope, so I think it'll probably be a good idea.”
You can follow Pope Benedict XVI at twitter.com/pontifex.