Xiskya Valladares is known as the “Twitter nun” and has more than 45,000 followers. Also a philologist and journalist, she is from the Purity of Mary Congregation.
She started using Twitter for the 15-M movement in Spain, when she realized she is a voice for many who don't have one.
XISKYA VALLADARES
@xiskya
“Using social networks requires an education and formation if we want to use them seriously, more or less professionally, with a goal. It's true that there are many dangers, the main one being that of addiction, because we all want to be heard, we all want to be valued. Within the human being, there is an ego, which can expand very quickly because networks are like a magnifying glass which can increase, both positively and negatively.”
Despite the risks, she is totally in favor of social networks and does not believe that the message of Christ can be simplified or distorted.
Benedict XVI said a Gospel verse has the same length as a tweet, which was then a maximum of 140 characters.
XISKYA VALLADARES
@xiskya
“It was a Gospel verse that converted me and led me to where I am now. That verse simply said: 'Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' If it's able to move and transform a whole life in less than 140 characters, I believe that we are called to be able to say powerful messages in very few words.”
She believes she has a huge responsibility due to her ability to reach and influence many people.
She helped change the life of an atheist journalist, who was ill with cancer and converted before dying. Another person traveled to talk to her and explained that he was gay: he just needed someone to tell him that God loved him.
XISKYA VALLADARES
@xiskya
“I like to give attention to those people who we normally do not hear about and who change or way of looking at things, something that Unamuno called 'intrahistory'. These great stories that never come out in books, but which make up most of the day-to-day world. Nothing is indifferent to our merciful Father. Everything that is being lived is important .”
Its main objective is to reach non-believers to give them the opportunity to see a different side of the Church. Xiskya avoids explicitly using religious terms, but believes that the message behind each of her posts are an evangelical message.
