By Olivia DeFrances, Staff Writer
@abstractinspire

As the world gets more and more centered around the internet and social media, even some of the most ancient institutions have to keep up. In this case, it’s the main man at the Vatican. It was officially announced Monday that the pope is creating a Twitter.

Pope Benedict XVI’s twitter handle is @Pontifex, and he almost immediately received half a million followers. The pope will start tweeting officially on Dec. 12, and many people are eager to hear what he has to tweet about. The first papal tweets will be responses to questions with the hashtag #askpontifex.

The pope’s Twitter / SCREENSHOT VIA @Pontifex’s Twitter page

The pope won’t actually be the one tweeting for the most part, but he will sign off on tweets created by aides. However, the big first tweet on Dec. 12 will come straight from the man himself. It seems as if people are accepting the concept of a tweeting pope as just another way that the world is evolving. Communication is now different, and the pope can reach millions of followers via social media. It’s a fascinating twist, but just consider it today’s version of a public statement.

It will be interesting to see how many people decide to tweet to the pope, and how different types of people will react to what he has to say. Maybe people will now start asking themselves, “WWJT? – What Would Jesus Tweet?” Who knows? All we can do is stay tuned for the pope’s big tweet on Dec. 12.

Below is a Storify highlighting some of the most recent questions, both serious and mocking, the pope has been asked over Twitter.