VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the Vatican's online news portal with a click, and then announced the launch with the first-ever papal tweet.

"Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI," the pope said in his message on the news site's Twitter account.

His 117- haracter tweet went viral, and within 24 hours, the pontiff had more than 35,000 followers.

You can get the latest from Vatican News via Twitter here: http://twitter.com/news_va_en.