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Pope Leo XIV Is Back on Social Media, with a Message of Peace 

Pope Leo XIV leaves the Augustinian General House in Rome after a visit, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)
Pope Leo XIV leaves the Augustinian General House in Rome after a visit, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)
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Pope Leo XIV Is Back on Social Media, with a Message of Peace 

Pope Leo XIV leaves the Augustinian General House in Rome after a visit, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)
Pope Leo XIV leaves the Augustinian General House in Rome after a visit, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)

Pope Leo XIV has taken over the Vatican’s official social media handles, with a first Instagram post on Tuesday repeating the first words he said to the world as pope: “Peace be with you all!”

The @Pontifex – Pope Leo XIV post featured some of the photos that have documented the first days of history’s first American pope.

The Vatican said it was archiving the posts from Pope Francis’ 12-year papacy. On X, the new account didn’t appear to be active Tuesday.

The Vatican launched the @Pontifex handle in 2012 during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. It now comes in nine languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Polish, Arabic, and Latin -- and counts a combined 52 million followers.

Past popes didn’t actually send the posts, which were curated by the Vatican.

The former Cardinal Robert Prevost occasionally posted on X in an account started in 2011. It had been dormant since July 2023, but came back to life earlier this year to share criticism of Trump administration migration policies and comments by Vice President JD Vance.

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Varieties

Iceland Volcano Erupts for 9th Time Since 2023

Lava emerges through a fissure following a volcano eruption near Grindavik, Reykjanes, Iceland July 16, 2025. Hordur Kristleifsson via Civil Protection Of Iceland/Handout via REUTERS
Lava emerges through a fissure following a volcano eruption near Grindavik, Reykjanes, Iceland July 16, 2025. Hordur Kristleifsson via Civil Protection Of Iceland/Handout via REUTERS
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Iceland Volcano Erupts for 9th Time Since 2023

Lava emerges through a fissure following a volcano eruption near Grindavik, Reykjanes, Iceland July 16, 2025. Hordur Kristleifsson via Civil Protection Of Iceland/Handout via REUTERS
Lava emerges through a fissure following a volcano eruption near Grindavik, Reykjanes, Iceland July 16, 2025. Hordur Kristleifsson via Civil Protection Of Iceland/Handout via REUTERS

A volcano erupted on Wednesday in Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula in the southwest, weather authorities said, the ninth eruption to hit the region since the end of 2023.

Live video feeds showed lava spewing out of a fissure in the ground, with the Icelandic Met Office saying that it began just before 4:00 am (0400 GMT).

Broadcaster RUV reported that the nearby fishing village Grindavik had been evacuated, as had the Blue Lagoon, Iceland's famed tourist spot.

The previous eruption to hit the area was in April.

When the first volcanic eruption first hit the area in late 2023, most of Grindavik's 4,000 residents were evacuated, AFP reported.

Since then, almost all of the houses have been sold to the state, and most of the residents have left.

Volcanoes on the Reykjanes peninsula had not erupted for eight centuries when in March 2021 a period of heightened seismic activity began.