Dei Populi Pastores sunt Episcopi. Eos fidenter studioseque sectemur. #Rio2013 #JMJ
— Papa Franciscus (@Pontifex_ln) July 27, 2013
Latin is making a comeback on a cutting-edge platform:
In January, not long before stepping down, [Pope Benedict] launched a Latin language Twitter account that has since attracted more than 130,000 followers. People have used it to follow the visit to Brazil of the new pope, Francis. By comparison, the Polish papal Twitter feed has slightly more than 108,000 followers whereas Spanish, the most popular of the papal accounts, has more than 3m. …
Latin’s succinctness makes it ideal for Twitter’s 140-character epigraphs and aphorisms. Five words can often say more than ten English ones, according to David Butterfield, a Latinist at the University of Cambridge. He also believes that the language is suited to journalism: “Whatever the first tongue of the reporter, and regardless of the native language of the subject matter recounted, Latin will allow a precise and direct summary,” he says.
The above tweet is from the account of Pope Francis and is called Summi Pontificis Breviloquentis –“the briefly speaking supreme pontiff”.
The Dish 