But in an interview with Vatican Radio about Benedict XVI’s presence on Twitter, Mgr. Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said the significance of the Pope’s presence on Twitter went beyond numbers: “In his mission as pastor of the universal Church, the Pope is not looking for popularity, he is not a celebrity,” the cleric said.
“The Pope’s aim is to be there for men and women of today who face a rocky road ahead. A few days ago, the Pope spoke of an abandonment of the spiritual world. This is why I see the Pope’s presence in the world of tweets as a positive thing.”
Many are wondering why Benedict XVI joined Twitter if he is not going to interact. To this the prelate answered: “Even if just 10% of the Pope’s 700 thousand - and we hope 1 million soon - followers wrote to the Pope, it would be materially impossible to respond.”
All sorts of tweets have been coming through, Mgr. Celli said, “positive, tweets, negative tweets, offensive tweets…the latter were not unexpected…what surprised us was the quantity of tweets that came through,” he remarked. “Some interesting questions were also raised about faith. We did get some jokey tweets as well but that’s part of the current culture. My belief is, and I say this with a slight smile, that tweeting will not solve the Church’s problems. If only things were that simple!”
Mgr. Celli recalled Jesus’ famous words: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Today’s mankind sees life as an incredible burden, which it sometimes tries to avoid in various ways, even by denying oneself. But what we want, Mgr. Celli said – is to stand by people.”
The cleric concluded by saying: “I welcome Pope Benedict XVI’s presence in the world of tweets. I believe and hope it will be his friends - I am not too keen on the term followers – who will re-tweet the Holy Father’s messages, ensuring they are sent where they are needed.”