The AFP is reporting that Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the comments yesterday at a conference with Italy's leading newspaper editors.

Ravasi said that Jesus Christ was the world's first tweeter because his pronouncements were "brief and full of meaning."

Christ "used tweets before everyone else, with elementary phrases made up of fewer than 45 characters like 'Love one another'."

He added: "A bit like in television today, he [Jesus] delivered a message through a story or a symbol."

Ravasi went on to urge the clergy to make full use of modern-day technology.

"If a cleric, a pastor is not interested in communication, they are defying their duty," he said.

Church hierarchy has not been shy about the use of social media with Pope Francis boasting of more than three million followers on Twitter - and that's only those who speak English!

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