With a hesitant tap on an iPad at his weekly public audience in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, using the handle @pontifex , sent out the first tweet from his official personal account to his followers -- close to a million of them in English alone -- on Twitter.

His first tweet in English: "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."

The tweet, which was sent at 2:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, has been rewteeted over 30,000 times. @pontifiex sent several additional tweets, each in different languages on his eight different language accounts.

Proof that social media has taken over the world!

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