Justin Bieber Falls Behind Pope Benedict on Twitter; Fans React
Pope Benedict XVI, 85, has beaten out 18-year-old teen heartthrob Justin Bieber for the high-profile figure with the most retweeted messages on Twitter recently.
Although the Vatican newspaper reported that the pope only had 2.1 million followers on Twitter compared to Bieber's 31.7 million, the pope's followers have reposted his messages more than the 18-year-old Canadian crooner. The publication shared that while 50 percent of the pope's followers have retweeted his messages, only 0.7 percent of Bieber's following do the same on the social networking website.
The pope took to his Twitter page to thank fans for supporting him.
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"Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter," the pope tweeted. "Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."
People who heard about the news of Bieber coming in second to Pope Benedict XVI on Twitter reacted on the social networking website.
"Ha! What a benchmark," one person tweeted.
Another person seemed to echo those sentiments by saying, "Amen."
Still, some thought that the pop star's messages being reposted less than the pope's were significant.
"A sign of the times," the person questioned. "Believers vs Beliebers."
Another spectator took things a step further and poked fun at the fact that Bieber and the pope could be engaged in a Twitter war.
"If you needed reason to believe that the world is wonderful, @Pontifex and @justinbieber have beef on Twitter now," the person tweeted.
Although Bieber may not be a spiritual leader, he recently tweeted a biblical message to fans that was re-tweeted over 78,000 times.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you," Bieber tweeted, posting John 15:12.
