Twitter confession: I was a rather late and unethusiastic adopter. In fact, I did not join until March 2013 and only because I wanted to follow Pope Francis, the new @Pontifex.
Fast forward six months: It is Sept. 16, 2013, my first day working at America. I'm told we are about to publish a groundbreaking interview with Pope Francis and it will be my job to promote it on Twitter. No pressure. But helping to share the powerful words of the pope with people all over the world put Twitter in a new light for me. For the first time I saw it not as a platform for self-promotion and fruitless bickering but as a powerful tool in the work of evangelization. Years before I hopped on the Twitter train, America understood this and continued the same work it has done in print for over 100 years—interpreting the church for the world and the world for the church—on social media.
Today, as Twitter turns 10, the editors at America thought we would look back at our most popular tweets. Here are the top 10:
Pope and bishops urge prayers for Paris #PrayersForParishttps://t.co/bkd3zDVOQ8pic.twitter.com/rd7jBLd7Sk
— America Magazine (@americamag) November 14, 2015
NEWS: Pope Francis will declare Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint on Sept. 4 in Rome. https://t.co/RmPVwY5AC4pic.twitter.com/Qcg0flYt1p
— America Magazine (@americamag) March 15, 2016
The Pope and #KimDavis: Seven points to keep in mind, from @JamesMartinSJhttp://t.co/Vzb0zMObTmpic.twitter.com/SJDOEERsdy
— America Magazine (@americamag) September 30, 2015
Pope Francis says the church needs to find a way to help gay Catholics. @gerryorome reports: http://t.co/oQcTbu4BH5pic.twitter.com/WBTQ0eKKjJ
— America Magazine (@americamag) December 7, 2014
Can an American Catholic vote for someone who would break up families and build up walls?https://t.co/X4GtWcNuxEpic.twitter.com/NbuKCHRvbX
— America Magazine (@americamag) February 18, 2016
Pope Tells Homeless: There's no justification for people not having a home @CCADWhttp://t.co/kk7bJTa0PXpic.twitter.com/qvxlcWmWR6
— America Magazine (@americamag) September 24, 2015
Pope: The divorced and remarried are not excommunicated, and should not be treated as suchhttp://t.co/xq62F4I8Sppic.twitter.com/bIbhRpj0az
— America Magazine (@americamag) August 5, 2015
Defending Women, Protecting Life: The Feminist Case Against Abortion #MarchforLife2015http://t.co/UUzpL2qcsQpic.twitter.com/IuT2qZOamz
— America Magazine (@americamag) January 22, 2015
“Finally!” That was Pope Francis' first word as he met the Patriarch of Moscowhttps://t.co/uCV8U2r6Ntpic.twitter.com/f7RGqxN45o
— America Magazine (@americamag) February 12, 2016
Science on human life supports pro-life movement #MarchforLife2015http://t.co/vbcyGyi72kpic.twitter.com/5quGpiQQtF
— America Magazine (@americamag) January 22, 2015
