Launched by Benedict XVI in December 2012, the account is available in nine languages.

Since taking over the @Pontifex account, Francis's followers have grown steadily, especially in English, which has 11 million followers.

There are a further 13 million Spanish language followers.

Of all Twitter account holders, his tweets are said to be the most re-tweeted.

One of his most retweeted messages in the past few weeks is that of 30 June, which refers to Charlie Gard and other children who have serious illnesses. This tweet says:

"To defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all".

Speaking in relation to social media, Professor Paolo Peverini, who is a lecturer in semiotics at the LUISS Guido Carli University and consultant to the Vatican's Secretariat for Communication says:

"The Pope's ability to fuel public debate on complex issues is of great interest."

Peverini then moved on to comment about other social media Francis has adopted, saying:

"In my opinion, we should especially emphasise the growth that characterizes the Instagram account, @Franciscus, which involves young users.

This is the "capacity of Pope Francis to be 'heard' by users who a few years ago, may have been a bit distant from the Church.

Source

• Herald Malaysia Online
• Zenit
• Newsmax.com

Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital where eleven-month old Charlie has being cared for say he has no chance of survival or improvement. Prolonging his life may cause significant suffering.

Charlie cannot see, hear, move, cry, swallow or breathe on his own.

The ten points Sgreccia made are:

1. People who cannot be cured have the most right to be taken care of.
2. Every human being, including the new-born, has a right to dignity regardless of their state of health. This dignity includes their right to care and attention.
3. Feeding and hydration are not therapies, so the hospital's decision to withdraw Charlie's life support is essentially letting him die of hunger and thirst just because he can't feed himself.
4. Doctors and the patient (in this case Charlie's parents on his behalf) must be actively involved in the decision making process and not have to "suffer passively the decisions and choices of others".
5. Charlie needs an integral palliative and systematic approach, regardless of whether he is able to recover. This approach could hypothetically accompany experimental work on his condition.
6. In relation to pain control; it is in Charlie's best interests. It will assure him the most dignified existence possible if he cannot access the experimental protocol in the United States.
7. The European Court of Human Rights did not respect the criteria (one to six) above and "glided in an unbelievable way on all the aspects of content listed up to here and ...beyond, assuming a purely procedural position.
8. There can be a conception of the efficient management of health resources that generates a "rampant disposable culture."
9. There is a cultural paradigm that tends to recognise the non-dignity of certain human existences and confuses that with the pathology with which they are suffering.
10. In these new cultural paradigms you can detect the ambivalence of those who, in demanding the freedom to make their own decisions regarding euthanasia - based on individual autonomy — at the same time deny this autonomy in other cases ...[like Charlie's].

Source

• Zenit
• BBC
• Image: Il dono della vita

There is no known cure for his rare genetic condition, which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. His life support system is to be turned off shortly.

Charlie has been the subject of a legal battle between his parents who want to spend as much time as they can with him and the hospital specialists who want to withdraw life-sustaining treatment.

Both the Vatican and Pope Francis are supporting the Gard family who were given last weekend to spend extra time with Charlie.

At present the 10-month old Charlie is being kept alive on a life support system. Britain's Supreme Court ruled early last month that it was not in his interest to move him or continue treatment.

Specialists at London's Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital believe Charlie has no chance of survival. They say it is highly probable Charlie will suffer significant harm if his life is prolonged without realistic prospect of an improvement.

Charlie's parents disagree and have raised £1.3m to help pay for experimental medical treatment in the United States.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected their pleas to be allowed to take him to the US.

The Gards then asked to take Charlie home and care for him there until he dies. They have not been allowed to do this.

In a statement from the Vatican, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia spoke of the "complexity of the situation, the heartrending pain of the parents, and the efforts of so many to determine what is best for Charlie".

He went on to say "We should never act with the deliberate intention to end a human life, including the removal of nutrition and hydration".

He added: "We do, sometimes, however, have to recognize the limitations of what can be done, while always acting humanely in the service of the sick person until the time of natural death occurs."

Paglia's report went on to speak of Charlie's parents: "Likewise, the wishes of parents must heard and respected, but they too must be helped to understand the unique difficulty of their situation and not be left to face their painful decisions alone."

Pope Francis strengthened the Vatican Academy for Life's view on Sunday, saying he hoped Charlie's parents desire "to accompany and care for their own child to the end" will be respected.

His message is aligned with his frequent denunciation of what he calls a "throw-away culture," a term he uses to describe ways in which those society deems to lack value are discarded, such as unborn children, the disabled and the elderly.

Source

• Vatican Radio
• Daily Mail
• The Guardian
• Crux
• Image: The Sun