Pope tweets for the first time

Benedict's tweet yesterday read: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI".

The portal www.news.va for the first time aggregates information from the Vatican's various print, online, radio and television media. It's the latest effort by the Vatican to bring its evangelizing message to a greater, Internet-savvy audience and follows forays into Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Benedict put the site online himself by tapping an iPad, said Thaddeus Jones, project coordinator and an official with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Moments later the pope sent the tweet.

The 84-year-old pontiff was then shown the portal and its features in greater detail.
Jones described him as "interested and impressed," and "clearly enjoying it."

"He was clearly in awe at the new technology," said Jones. "It's a lighter moment but also an important one, it marks a new way of communicating."