By Dan Merica, CNN

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(CNN) – Pope Benedict XVI's first tweet from his new personal Twitter account on Wednesday was simple: "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.”

But the social media response to the pope's first day of active tweeting has been anything but straightforward.

The pope’s Twitter account quickly swelled to over a million followers and tweets about @pontifex – meaning “bridge builder” – swirled around the Internet. Thousands of the pontiff’s Twitter followers replied to his message, which was retweeted more than 50,000 times.

By Thursday morning Eastern Time, the pope had sent seven tweets, including three responses to Twitter questions from people on three different continents, according to the Vatican.

"How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?" one of the pope's followers asked via Twitter.

"By speaking with Jesus in prayer," the pope tweeted back, "listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need."

Many tweeters this week are employing the hashtag “#AskPontifex,” with questions ranging from the personal to the mundane, from the controversial to the deeply spiritual:

@Pontifex How do we have faith in our hearts, not just in our heads, when the world makes faith feel like a fantasy? #AskPontifex —

Karen Howard (@HowardKLW) December 12, 2012

Dear @pontifex, I'll be in Rome next week. Can I buy you lunch? Just because. #havelunchwithmatt #askpontifex —

Matthew Anderson (@mattleeanderson) December 12, 2012

Many Catholics welcomed the pope's foray onto Twitter.

“It couldn't hurt,” says James Martin, a Jesuit priest and an editor at America magazine. “The Holy Father's embrace of new technology reminds people that the church is trying to meet people where they are, just like Jesus did.”

Though Martin may not be as popular on Twitter as His Holiness, he is an avid tweeter, with 15,000 followers at @JamesMartinSJ.

Some tweeps – as people on Twitter are known – asked His Holiness tough questions:

#askpontifex does it upset you or the Church that people say they are "Catholic" yet say its ok to use condoms or that gay marriage is ok? —

(@Rainzford) December 12, 2012

@Pontifex #AskPontifex Your Holiness, can you please tell us why women aren't allowed to be ordained as Catholic priests? This puzzles us. —

Filip Gabrić (@Filip_ugh_lol) December 12, 2012

@Pontifex Your holiness, does a person have the right to judge another in his beliefs in another religion #askpontifex —

Dylan Carragher (@DylanCarragher) December 12, 2012

@Pontifex #askpontifex As young I love God and my faith burns,how I can share my faith in a society without hope? #liveforChrist —

NANCY (@nancy_tg) December 12, 2012

There were also many questions about the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal:

Why does the Catholic church produce and protect pedophiles? #askpontifex —

Harriet Tubgirl (@HarrietTubgirl) December 12, 2012

.@Pontifex Hey when are you going to address the rampant child rape in your church? Just curious. #askpontifex —

Sarah Moglia (@Mowgli3) December 12, 2012

#Askpontifex When will you do something to stop the abuse of children by members of the clergy? Enough is enough. The flock is poisoned. —

Joe (@pyrojoe711) December 12, 2012

Martin says these sorts of questions should not be surprising.

“It's a huge problem, so it makes sense that people would bring it up to the pope," Martin says. "Something similar happens in presidential press conferences: the most pressing problem is usually the topic of the first question.”

Earlier this year, a study commissioned by the Trenton Archdiocese in New Jersey found that the main reason people were leaving the church was because of what they considered its inadequate response to clergy sex abuse.

As is common with Twitter, Benedict received plenty of tweets from dreamers:

Pope Benedict @Pontifex began tweeting today. Is it too soon to ask for a papal Friday Follow mention? —

Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 12, 2012

And also from the sports obsessed:

@Pontifex From USA TODAY: Are you aware of Notre Dame and its success in American college football? Any words for them?#askpontifex —

Thomas O'Toole (@ByThomasOToole) December 12, 2012

And from the politically inclined:

Dear @pontifex: US Congress may decimate services that aid the poor. You say creating poverty is a sin-what to do? #askpontifex #fiscalcliff —

scott klimek (@scottklimek2) December 12, 2012

Many tweeps asked Benedict personal questions:

I wonder what language @Pontifex is more comfortable speaking. German, Italian, English or Parseltongue? #askpontifex —

Matteo Mario Doni (@Todoleo) December 12, 2012

Where do u get your hats? DM me? RT @Pontifex Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch through Twitter. I bless all of you from my heart. —

Jeffrey Ross (@realjeffreyross) December 12, 2012

After the Pope sent his first tweet, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Paul Tighe, told Vatican Radio that it marked "an extraordinary moment."

The attention it sparked within the Twitterverse was impressive, Tighe said, with more than 2,000 retweets in under two minutes.

Some tweeps, however, were unimpressed with pope's reach so far – especially compared to other religious and cultural figures:

@Pontifex is now the second most followed Christian leader on Twitter. Number one is @JoelOsteen. We must fix this. —

Brandon Vogt (@BrandonVogt1) December 12, 2012

The Pope @Pontifex tweeted for the first time today. He has 727K followers. @KimKardashian has 17 Million. This is our world. Geez. —

John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) December 12, 2012

- CNN’s Eric Marrapodi contributed to this report.