Indulgences of the new millenium

There was a time these went for big bucks, but now you can get your forgiveness for nothing and your tweets for free.

In its latest attempt to keep up with the times the Vatican has married one of its oldest traditions to the world of social media by offering "indulgences" to followers of Pope Francis' tweets.

The church's granted indulgences reduce the time Catholics believe they will have to spend in purgatory after they have confessed and been absolved of their sins.

I'm not Catholic and I've never embraced the concept of the infalliable Holy See, but this new pope keeps winning me over. If all the popes were like Pope Francis I might have converted to their faith a long time ago as I do really love their saints.