VATICAN CITY — While Pope Leo XIV has deleted the account he began as Father Robert F. Prevost on Twitter, now X, in 2011, the Vatican has launched new accounts for him on X and Instagram.
“The Holy Father Leo XIV has chosen to maintain an active social media presence through the official papal accounts on X and Instagram,” said the Dicastery for Communication.
The first post on the “Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex” account on X was released May 14 and was a quote from his inaugural greeting to the public May 8 when he was elected: “Peace be with you all!.”
His first papal Instagram post featured the same quotation — in seven languages — alongside a photo of him greeting the crowd May 8 from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The new @pontifex Instagram account of Pope Leo XIV had more than 13 million followers by May 16.