It’s been only a week since Pope Leo XIV won the papal conclave and took home the coveted title of pontifex, and he has already hit a new career milestone. On Tuesday, May 13, he made his Instagram debut with a 17-image-carousel post from his busy first week on the job. He’s already a social-media star, amassing 12.2 million followers since his profile went live. Does this make him an influencer? I’d say so.
“Peace be with you all!” began his caption, which was an excerpt from his first public address. “This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world.” There are over 1 billion Catholics worldwide, so the caption was written in seven languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, Polish, and German.
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Cute? Yes. Groundbreaking? Not exactly. He’s not the first pope to post on social media — in fact, the very first papal tweet was sent out by Pope Benedict XVI on December 12, 2012. “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,” he wrote. Man, I love history.
This is just the start of Pope Leo’s online footprint since he has chosen “to maintain an active social media presence through the official papal accounts on X and Instagram,” according to a press release from the Dicastery for Communication. Does this mean a TikTok account is next?
