Pope Francis' New Instagram Account Is Shattering Records

As you may have heard, the Vicar of Christ is now in Instagram! And his account is shattering records.

His account is named “franciscus,” which is Latin for Francis and was launched on March 19th. Within 12 hours, the account had already reached 1 million followers – a new record for the social network (the previous record was 1 million followers in 24 hours). As of this writing, his account now has 1.8 million followers!

In case you don’t already know, Instagram is one of the largest social media networks in the world and is used for sharing pictures and videos. While Instagram is normally accessed through its smartphone app, you can still see his posts no matter what device you are using at this link.

And in his first post ever, he characteristically asked for people to pray for him:

Pray for me Rezad por mí Pregate per me صلوا من أجلي Priez pour moi Módlcie się za mnie Rezem por mim Betet für mich Orate pro me

A photo posted by Pope Francis (@franciscus) on Mar 19, 2016 at 4:24am PDT

The new account was launched just a few weeks after Pope Francis met personally with Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram. During their meeting, they talked about the power of images in today’s media environment and about the possibility of the Pope creating an Instagram account.

Of course, as is the case with his very successful Twitter accounts, Pope Francis does not manage his Instagram account directly, but with the help of a communication staff.

Here are a few more of his posts so far:

Je confie à la miséricorde de Dieu les personnes qui ont perdu la vie. I entrust to God’s mercy all those who lost their lives. Affido alla misericordia di Dio le persone che hanno perso la vita . Encomiendo a la misericordia de Dios las personas que han perdido la vida. Confio à misericórdia de Deus as pessoas que perderam a vida. Gottes Barmherzigkeit vertraue ich all jene an, die ihr Leben verloren haben. #Bruxelles, #Bruxelles, #Bruxelles, #Bruselas, #Bruxelas, #Brüssel

A photo posted by Pope Francis (@franciscus) on Mar 22, 2016 at 8:50am PDT

We cannot love without experiencing His surprising tenderness! No podemos amar sin experimentar su sorprendente ternura! Nous ne pouvons pas aimer sans faire l’expérience de sa surprenante tendresse! Non possiamo amare senza sperimentare la sua sorprendente tenerezza! Não podemos amar, sem experimentar a Sua ternura surpreendente! Wir können nicht lieben, ohne die Erfahrung Seiner überraschenden Zärtlichkeit zu machen

A photo posted by Pope Francis (@franciscus) on Mar 21, 2016 at 7:52am PDT

Inizio un nuovo cammino, per percorrere con voi la via della Misericordia e della tenerezza di Dio. Inicio un nuevo camino, para recorrer con ustedes el camino de la Misericordia y de la ternura de Dios. I want to walk with you along the way of God’s Mercy and tenderness. Ich beginne einen neuen Weg, um mit euch den Weg der Barmherzigkeit und der Zärtlichkeit Gottes zu gehen. Je commence un nouveau chemin, pour parcourir avec vous la voie de la Miséricorde et de la tendresse de Dieu. Inicio um novo caminho, no Instagram, para percorrer com vocês a estrada da Misericórdia e da ternura de Deus.

A video posted by Pope Francis (@franciscus) on Mar 19, 2016 at 2:41pm PDT

You can see more of his posts here.

And in his first post ever, he characteristically asked for people to pray for him:

Here are a few more of his posts so far:

What do you think of the Pope being on social media? Let us know in the comments!