He sent out one final tweet:
“Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives.”
Benedict XVI was the first pope to use Twitter to communicate with his flock (though, of course, he’s the only one to hold the pontiff position since Twitter’s founding), and he urged Catholics to use Twitter to spread the “Good News.” The account which hadn 1.6 million followers was deleted.
The Twitter account’s name now is titled “Sede Vacante,” which is the name of the period when the papacy is vacant.
Bells chimed, and applause from the gathered thousands filled the air, as he climbed into a car for transport to a helicopter that took him to the summer papal residence.
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Roman Catholic cardinals will next week take the first step toward setting a date for a conclave that will elect a new pope, Vatican officials confirmed Friday. The cardinals will begin informal discussions of church issues, known as “general congregations,” at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) on Monday, a Vatican press spokesman said.
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At the top of their agenda will be the announcement of a date for the cardinals to enter the conclave – a closed, secret voting session held inside the Sistine Chapel that continues until they agree on a new leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. General congregations are the preliminary talks at which cardinals identify the key tasks facing the church, prior to the conclave at which they choose the best candidate suited to those tasks.
The first general congregation will take place in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall, according to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals. A second will take place at 5:00 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET), he told reporters.
Make sure to read: The New Elected Pope Could Be Black!
Papal Conclave 2013 Watch: What is Sede Vacante
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