VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥 Pope Leo XIV has taken over the Vatican鈥檚 official social media handles, with a first Instagram post on Tuesday repeating the first words he said to the world as pope: 鈥淧eace be with you all!鈥
The @Pontifex 鈥 Pope Leo XIV post featured some of the photos that have documented the first days of .
The Vatican said it was archiving the posts from 鈥 12-year papacy. On X, the new account didn鈥檛 appear to be active Tuesday.
The Vatican launched the @Pontifex handle in 2012 during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. It now comes in nine languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Polish, Arabic, and Latin -- and counts a combined 52 million followers.
Past popes didn't actually send the posts, which were curated by the Vatican.
The former Cardinal Robert Prevost occasionally posted on X in an account started in 2011. It had been but came back to life earlier this year to share criticism of Trump administration migration policies and comments by Vice President JD Vance.
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