Pope Benedict XVI made big news in social media late last year when he launched the first official papal Twitter account on December 12. @Pontifex is up to nearly 1,600,000 followers in nine languages, after having been active for a mere 10 weeks. So what happens now that the Pope has announced that he will abdicate the Chair of St. Peter?

“It seems unimaginable that one could continue to use a communication tool so popular and powerful during the ‘sede vacante’ period,” said Vatican Radio, adding that the account will officially close on February 28th at 8pm local time to coincide with Pope Benedict XVI’s departure. “From choice, the Pontifex profile was not personalized, but it clearly refers to the person of the pope.”

The real question now is: Will the next pope continue to utilize the power of Twitter to connect with people of faith around the world? Social media can be used as a direct route to bring the Church to its people, and Pope Benedict XVI rightly recognized the importance of taking advantage of that opportunity.

@Pontifex will likely send out a final tweet early next week. We’ll keep you updated.