PIC: Pope Francis joins Instagram and the response is brilliant

“I am beginning a new journey, on Instagram, to walk with you along the path of mercy and the tenderness of God.”

We’ll be honest with you, that’s not a sentence we’d necessarily have imagined a Pope ever saying, but there you go. In these technological times, why not use every avenue open to you to spread the word?

Pope Francis is no stranger to social media, with just shy of nine million people around the world following him on Twitter. And now he is looking to conquer Instagram, with his first ever post on Saturday…

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

As you can imagine, the inherent humour of the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church joining a medium widely renowned for shallow egotism and superficial nonsense is not lost on many.

Here are just a few of the amusing responses…

@Pontifex double tap Father

— yasuka 🥷 (@jiniaiko) March 19, 2016

@Pontifex Ping me when you start @Snapchat'ing or @vine'ing cc @USATODAY

— Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) March 19, 2016

https://twitter.com/Lordofmisrule79/status/711158142860730368

The Pope has joined Instagram. Can't WAIT for all the photos of "Eggs Benedictus".

— Pundamentalism (@Pundamentalism) March 19, 2016

@Pontifex no duck pouting selfies mate

— mark skelton (@Skelly2505) March 19, 2016

https://twitter.com/bertnews/status/711153923898404868

https://twitter.com/danielwcooper/status/711179972531068928

Disappointed the Pope hasn't put a picture of his cat on Instagram yet.

— Col (@crimsonavenger) March 19, 2016