Pope Francis has certainly been a non-traditional pope so far, as he has voiced out liberal views on a variety of issues including gay marriage and climate change.
Pope Francis is seemingly also looking to cement his post as the most tech-savvy pope in history, as in addition to his Twitter account, the pope is said to be making his debut on picture-sharing service Instagram.
According to Italian newswire ANSA, which cited an interview with Prefect for Communications Dario Viganò on Vatican radio, the launch of Pope Francis' Instagram account will be on March 19, and it will be bearing the handle Franciscus.
Pope Francis, who previously praised the capability of the Internet in building a healthy society that is open to sharing, held a private audience with Kevin Systrom, the founder and CEO of Instagram, last month.
There have been no reports indicating that Systrom invited Pope Francis to set up an Instagram account. However, according to Systrom's account on the picture-sharing service, they discussed the power of pictures in bringing people together across different boundaries such as language and culture.
Pope Francis has also met with other big names in the tech industry, including Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
On Twitter, the handle of Pope Francis is @Pontifex, with His Holiness already amassing 8.87 million followers since he joined in February 2012. Pope Francis also has eight other official Twitter accounts in different languages, including Italian, French and Arabic.
"God is truly 'rich in mercy' and extends it abundantly upon those who appeal to Him with a sincere heart," wrote Pope Francis in his latest tweet.
While Pope Francis has exhibited his love for technology, His Holiness believes that people should not be using their devices while at the dinner table. Pope Francis has urged people to spend time with their family while having meals instead of using their devices while at the table.
Pope Francis added that families who do not eat together or who do but do not talk to each other are hardly families at all.
