Welcome to Instagram, Pope Francis! The Catholic leader has just joined the picture-sharing app and has already amassed 19,000 followers in one day.
Just like his Twitter account, the Pope's official Instagram page is managed by Vatican staff who have been uploading photos, including one selfie, of the 79-year-old.
Under the account name @Franciscusofficial, the bio line confirms that the page is the official account of "His Holiness Pope Francis".
The Pope amassed 19,000 followers in one day
The first snap showed the Pope beaming at the camera, holding up his right hand and waving. A second photo was of the leader joining a well-wisher in a selfie.
Another picture showed the Pope mid-prayer, gazing at a painting of the Virgin Mary. "Simply looking at you, O Mother, to have eyes only for you, looking upon you without saying anything... #franciscus #franciscusofficial," it was captioned.
The Catholic leader has almost nine million followers on Twitter
The Pope is already somewhat of a social media star on Twitter. He has almost nine million followers and one tweet is usually sent out per day.
His decision to join Instagram seems to have been made a couple of weeks ago, when Kevin Systrom, CEO and co-founder of Instagram, met with the Pope at the Vatican.
Kevin Systrom, CEO and co-founder of Instagram, met with the Pope at the Vatican
Kevin uploaded a photo of the pair and explained: "Today I had the honour of meeting Pope Francis. We spoke about the power of images to unite people across different cultures and languages. It was by far one of the most memorable experiences of my life!"
