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Pope tweets for the first time

Pope posts first tweet on Twitter. (Source: CNN) Pope posts first tweet on Twitter. (Source: CNN)

(CNN) - Pope Benedict the 16th is now tweeting. He sent his first tweet early Wednesday.

"Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart," he tweeted.

His Twitter handle - @Pontifex - means "bridge builder" in Latin, according to the Britannica Online Encyclopedia.

The pope already has close to one million followers.

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