Pope Leo XIV’s first Instagram post: a message of peace and unity
Pope Leo XIV has returned to social media with a message of peace on the Vatican's official Instagram
Pope Leo XIV has officially taken over the Vatican’s @Pontifex social media accounts, marking a historic moment for the Catholic Church.
The first American pope shared his message of peace with his inaugural post, echoing his very first words to the world as pope: "Peace be with you all!". As of now, the account has 9,7 million followers on Instagram.
Pope Leo XIV’s first post
The @Pontifex handle came back to life with Pope Leo XIV's first Instagram post, in which he featured pictures of how his life has changed in his first days as pontiff.
While many are wondering what would happen to Pope Francis' previous posts, the Vatican revealed that those posts would be archived in a special section of the Holy See’s institutional website, according to Vatican News.
Pope Leo XIV makes his first Instagram post with a message of peace. Photo: Instagram
Why 'Pontifex' is still used?
The handle was first created in 2012 for Pope Benedict XVI and has since been used by each pope, and while past pontiffs did not actually send the post, they were curated by the Vatican.
However, Pope Francis was actually the one who expanded the papal social media, opening an Instagram account in 2016 with the handle "@franciscus". His first post was a picture of himself kneeling in prayer with the caption "Pray for me"
