Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, has apologised for a tweet he sent on the public part of his feed last week wishing someone "Nighty-night, baby, I love you".
"The tweet was a private message to one of his sisters that went out inadvertently to his followers," said Jim Goodness, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Newark, in an email to Catholic News Service. "The cardinal has sent out a new tweet today to all of his followers and isn't going to be commenting beyond that", Mr Goodness said.
Some groups angry at the cardinal over his stance on immigration and other social issues were quick to criticise him on Twitter. Tobin has regularly spoken out about the plight of refugees and the responsibility of Christians to welcome asylum seekers.
The cardinal, whose tweets are sparse - the last one before the tweet in question went out in November, explained the incident the following day: "Sitting on a plane last Wednesday evening, I mistakenly tweeted a message meant as a private communication with one of my sisters. When I arrived in Newark two hours later, friends informed me of the error and I immediately removed it," he tweeted on 23 February.
"However, the tweet continues to be widely diffused and has sown some misunderstanding. I want to apologise to the priests and faithful of the Archdiocese of Newark if my carelessness has caused any confusion or embarrassment. I promise to be more careful with future use of media", he said.
The original tweet included information about his flight, saying he was "supposed to be airborne in 10 minutes".
PICTURE: Cardinal Tobin of Newark installation at the Cathedral Basillica of the Sacred Heart (Image/CNS).
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