The Pope Joined Instagram and instantly got a million followers

Everybody is on Instagram these days, and Pope Francis doesn’t want to miss out. He launched an account on Saturday with a photo of him kneeling in prayer. The caption read, “pray for me” in multiple languages. Within 12 hours, the Pope reached a million followers! He’s basically cooler than David Beckham now, who previously held the record for gaining a million followers in 24 hours. Pope Francis’ Instagram handle is “Franciscus,” and you should start following it immediately.

Pope Francis’ reason for joining Instagram wasn’t just a spur of the moment thing. He’s been trying to make himself more personable and approachable to people on a mass scale, and put himself in a position where he can communicate quickly. Social media is a great platform to start that process, if a little overwhelming. Instagram currently has 400 million members, if you can believe it!

Also, Pope Francis met with Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom in the Vatican a few weeks ago to discuss the possibility of using powerful images to bring people together, regardless of culture or language barriers. According to Time, Kevin gave Pope Francis a book with ten specially-selected Instagram images from around the world, capturing natural disasters, climate change, migrants, and more.

Pope Francis’ Instagram account will be maintained by the Vatican, along with his Facebook and Twitter accounts. We hope that it helps to spread positivity around the world.