Pope tweets on iPad in bid to reach younger audience

THE sight of Pope Benedict XVI tweeting on an iPad reveals a transformation underway in the tradition-bound Vatican to reach a younger global audience and improve a scandal-tainted image.

A bemused pope can be seen tapping on the tablet device in his Vatican palace in footage put up on YouTube, with a cardinal showing the 84-year-old how to scroll through the Holy See’s new multimedia web portal.

“Dear Friends, I just launched www.news.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI,” wrote the pope, using his formal name in Latin — still the Vatican’s official language.