Pope Francis attracts record breaking number of Twitter followers en Espanol

Six months after launching @Pontifex on Twitter, the Holy Father now has more Spanish followers than English. The achievement has been credited to the adoring fans of Pope Francis across the Spanish-speaking world.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Six months ago Pope Benedict XVI tapped his first tweet into an iPad. At that time, millions of people in the English-speaking world followed him on Twitter. Benedict also tweeted in Spanish under the handle @Pontifex_es.

As of today, Pope Francis now has more followers under @Pontifex_es than on his English account.

In addition to the fact that Frances is from Argentina, another reason for the milestone is Twitter"s rapid spread in the Spanish-speaking world. Smart phones and iPads are no longer just a North American phenomenon.

The Holy Father now enjoys an audience above 6.9 million souls on Twitter. He can also be followed in Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Latin, and Arabic.

Pope Francis is now among the top 100 people being followed on Twitter. He is also closing in on the Dalai Lama's following of 7.1 million people. The Dalai Lama has been tweeting for much longer than Benedict and Francis, so this puts Francis on track to become the most followed religious figure on Twitter in the months to come.

These developments represent many things. They represent the increasingly rapid ascent of the rest of the world to a higher technological standard that is more on par with North America and Western Europe. They also represent a new flowering of faith greatly inspired by Popes who are able to connect with people where they are and not just in the pews on Sunday.

Finally, this is direct product of the influence of the Holy Spirit on millions of people who have been prayerfully inspired to listen to the weekly messages of the Holy Father. Never before in history have rank and file Catholics then in such direct communication with the Bishop of Rome.

It"s remarkable to see what blessings can come from little messages of love no more than 140 characters in length.

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