With an iPad, Pope Francis registers for World Youth Day 2016

VATICAN CITY, July 27 (UPI) -- Pope Francis signed on as World Youth Day's first pilgrim by tapping a registration form on an iPad.

During his traditional Sunday blessing at the Vatican's St. Peter's Square, the pope told thousands of observers from his balcony, "Today we open registration for the 31st World Youth Day, to be held next year in Poland. I invite the youth of the world to live this pilgrimage that will be going to Krakow. Thanks to this electronic device, I signed up as a simple pilgrim."

The event, launched by Pope John Paul II in 1985 and held at two- or three-year intervals, is a global convocation of Catholic youth, will be in Krakow, Poland, July 26 to 31, 2016. About 2.5 million people are expected to attend, 30,000 from the United States.

An older iPad belonging to the pope was sold for $30,500 in April, to benefit a school in Uruguay.