Upon his abdication from the papacy, the Vatican deleted all the tweets of Pope Benedict for good, giving Pope Francis a “clean slate” to begin public diplomacy in the first modern papacy through the reinstated @pontifex account. In his first tweet – like in his acceptance speech and at the inauguration today – the Pope reached out with a simple request:
Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me. Pope Francis.
In a humble gesture, he sends a message to the world that the road ahead will be tough and he will not be able to go it alone. Prayers for the pope will be needed.
Prayers for the Pope 