Pope Benedict joins Twitter revolution

Pope Benedict XVI is not due to send out his first tweet until next week, but his official Twitter account has already broken the 90,000 follower mark.

The Vatican announced on Monday that the 85-year-old pontiff will send out his first 140-character message on December 12, the feast of Madonna of Guadalupe.

Twitter is known for its spontaneity, with off-the-cuff tweets that can become a source of regret. That's not likely to be the case with @pontifex, the pope's new Twitter handle.

The Vatican has announced that the long-awaited papal Twitter account will open for business at midday on 12 December, leaving little room for random ramblings by the pope, and will kick off with a Q&A session to show it truly is his voice.

"With the Obama White House, a tweet will come out every now and then that is actually written by the president," said Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the pontifical council for social communication (PCSC). "Here, every tweet will be seen and approved by the pope."

The papal account is the latest attempt by the Vatican to tackle new media, with a YouTube channel and the Pope2you website already set up. Benedict XVI sent his first tweet from the Vatican's Twitter feed last year.

From Monday, the Pope App will be available free from the Apple Store, offering alerts of pending homilies as well as video footage from a series of webcams around the Vatican.

"The Twitter handle is @pontifex. It's a good name I think. It means 'pope' and it means 'bridge builder' at the same time. It suggests unity, the pope united not only with Catholics but also with all men and women of good will," said Greg Burke, senior media adviser to the Vatican.

Benedict will send out the inaugural tweet himself, but subsequent tweets consisting of contents of the pope's weekly general audience, Sunday blessings and homilies on major Church holidays, will come from his aides.

The micro-blogging service has seen several fake accounts set up for world leaders and celebrities in the past. Most notably, following the so-called Arab Spring protests of 2011, several parody accounts were set up for leaders and officials in Egypt, Libya and Syria.