The Pope Gets Retweeted More than Justin Bieber

The Pope isn't the most followed person on Twitter, not by a long shot. But according to the Vatican, people really love what he has to say, so much so that the public retweets his words more frequently than Justin Bieber's.

The Vatican said on Thursday that Pope Benedict has set a new percentage record for the number of retweets by his followers. Apparently half of the pope's fans retweeted his first tweet on December 12.

See what he tweeted when you continue

Benedict XVI

• ✔

@Pontifex

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.

12 Dec 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

Riveting words, we know. Just eight days after sending out that tweet, the pope now has 1.2 million followers, or roughly 200,000 less than comedian Chris Rock. Still, for an 85-year-old social media neophyte, 1.2 million is a solid number. Just don't expect him to compete with Bieber's stats anytime soon. (The pop star currently has 31.7 million followers.)

Fluent in German, French, and Italian, the pope tweets in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Arabic. And according to the Vatican newspaper, he'll soon start sending out messages in Latin and Chinese.

Zimbio