Pope Francis urges Catholics to turn off cellphones and television for Lent during the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period where Catholic devotees sacrifice certain luxuries, habits, or food. It is also "is a time in which to turn off the television and open the Bible," according to Pope Francis.
“Fasting is being capable of giving up the superfluous and going to the essential. Fasting is not only losing weight, it is seeking the beauty of a simpler life,” he said.
Talking to a crowd of 12,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope Francis points out the difficulty of finding silence nowadays. This is because the environment is “polluted by too much verbal violence," by so many "offensive and harmful words" which are present on the Internet.
“Lent is a time to disconnect from cell phones and connect to the Gospel,” he said. He also recalls the time when they had no television when he was a child, but his family made a point to not listen to the radio.
“It is the time to give up useless words, chatter, rumors, gossip, and talk and to speak directly to the Lord,” he said.
Pope Francis also discussed the proliferation of misinformation online. He also calls on technology companies to fight child pornography online.
He asked the crowd to be more sensitive to the needy in the society. “Even today, close to us, there are many deserts, many lonely people: they are the lonely and the abandoned. How many poor and old people live near us in silence, marginalized and discarded, “he said.
Good use of technology
In a different speech, Pope Francis encouraged the healthy use of technology and emphasized that education can prevent people from falling into human trafficking.
“I would like to recall that various studies have shown that criminal organizations are increasingly using modern means of communication to lure victims through deception,” he said.
