In case you missed it, Pope Francis has taken his extensive knowledge of social media to Instagram.
The account, named Franciscus, was created on Saturday and has already gained 1.6 million followers. Pope Francis posted a message about his decision to join Instagram on his Twitter page, which has 26 million followers.
I am beginning a new journey, on Instagram, to walk with you along the path of mercy and the tenderness of God.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 19, 2016
Mark Zuckerberg also posted a message about the Pope to his Facebook page, welcoming the Pope to Instagram.
“Welcome to Instagram, Pope Francis,” he wrote. “No matter what faith you practice, we can all be inspired by Pope Francis’s humility and compassion. I’m looking forward to following the pope-and watching him continue sharing his message of mercy, equality and justice with the world.”
According to an interview with the Vatican Radio, the Pope claims to have created an Instagram account because of his belief that “images can reveal many things.” The first post, captioned “Pray for me” in nine different languages, is a picture of the Pope praying. Monsignor Dario Vigano, the Prefect Secretariat for Communications, also claimed in the interview that all images posted to the account “will emphasize the qualities of closeness and inclusion that Pope Francis lives out in his daily life.”
Last month, the Pope met with Kevin Systrom, the founder of Instagram. According to TIME, Systrom showed Pope Francis 10 curated Instagram photos to show “the power of images to unite people across different cultures and languages,” as he later wrote on Instagram. Guess the meeting paid off—the Pope’s already posted six times in just the three days he’s had the account!