Cardinals up social-media activity in run-up to conclave
O'Malley saw biggest increase, Tagle took greatest share
12 March, 14:21
(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 12 - The archbishop of Boston,
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, registered the biggest increase in
activity on his Twitter account in the run-up to the conclave to
elect a successor to Benedict XVI, according to figures
published on Tuesday.
The Capuchin Franciscan saw his activity increase by 52.6%
over the last week, followed by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier,
archbishop emeritus of Durban, at 49.5%, and Cardinal Roger
Mahony, the controversial former archbishop of Los Angeles, at
33.4%.
The figures came from social-media-monitoring platform
ECCE/Customer.However Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines seemed to be the most appealing to users of social media, according to the source.
The 55-year-old archbishop of Manila clocked up some 104,809 social-media activities in the week leading up to the conclave, translating to around 50% of the share. Other particularly active cardinals included Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, and Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
Cardinal Odilo Scherer, archbishop of Sao Paulo, also saw a surge in popularity as a result of media interest in his possible election as pope.
In any event the 115 cardinal electors taking part in the conclave are now obliged to refrain from any form of communication with the outside world until a new pope has been elected.
