JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Pope Benedict XVI, making his second visit to Africa, departed for Benin on Friday where he is to meet with both Roman Catholic leaders and voodoo chiefs.

Agence France-Presse reported that the Temple of Pythons, a voodoo temple that houses some 30 snakes, stands directly across from the Catholic basilica that the pontiff will visit. 

In Benin, considered the home of voodoo, "Catholic and traditional beliefs exist side-by-side and often mix," AFP said.

Voodoo (also spelled Vodon, Vodoun or Voudou) is practiced in other West African countries, including Ghana, Togo, and parts of Nigeria. Voodoo is also famously associated with Haiti, but according to National Geographic, "the roots of the voodoo religion" are in Togo and Benin.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, Pope Benedict recently addressed a group of bishops from Angola and the tiny African island nation of Sao Tome, who were visiting Rome:  

Benedict lamented that “the hearts of the baptized” in Africa “are torn between Christianity and traditional African religions.” In particular, the pope pointed to “the marginalization and even murder of children and elderly people, condemned by the false diktats of witchcraft.”

On the Pope's previous visit to Africa, in 2009, he caused a global outcry by saying that condoms were making the HIV/AIDS crisis worse.

Pope Benedict XVI sent out his first tweet on Tuesday, to announce the launch of the new Vatican site, according to CNN.

The message was short and to the point, as Twitter demands with its character limit, according to Time: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI."

The pope tweeted on the Vatican's English-language Twitter account @news_va_en, and also posted it via the Vatican's French Twitter feed, in French.

Benedict, who at the age of 84 still writes his speeches by hand rather than use a computer, had a little help from his friends: someone else typed the message for him to send, but he did the sending, from an Apple iPad, Bloomberg News reported.

According to CNN:

"The pope sent it, but it was prepared for him," Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. "The tablet was presented to him. He did the click and sent the tweet."

The pope had 15,000 followers within three hours of his Twitter debut, and that number continued to climb.

The Vatican already has an established web presence, and has launched an iPhone app and a Facebook page for the beatification of Pope John Paul II this year. The Vatican's current website, www.vatican.va, will remain in place, with general information about the Holy See, important Vatican documents and offices, and papal activities.

President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, who was with the Pope for the historic tweet, has pushed for an increased technological presence to keep the church socially relevant and to reach out to younger people, according to Time.