Pope Francis told a general audience in Vatican City to give up “insults” on social media for Lent.
“We live in an atmosphere polluted by too much verbal violence, too many offensive and harmful words, which are amplified by the internet,” Francis said Wednesday, according to Reuters. “Today, people insult each other as if they were saying, ‘Good day.'”
Francis reminded his audience that Lent, the 40-day penitential season for Catholics, “is a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumors, tittle-tattle, and speak to God on a first-name basis.”
The pope also encouraged people to give up their cellphones and embrace the “silence” of Lent.
“When I was a little boy, there was no television,” he said. “However, it was customary to not listen to the radio during Lent. It’s the desert. Lent is the time to renounce, to disconnect from our cellphones and connect to the Gospel.”
Francis’s comments came on Ash Wednesday, a day marked by fasting and abstinence for those observing Lent. Catholics often receive ashes on their forehead on this day to remind them of their mortality.
As social media has become more popular, many people choose to give up platforms such as Facebook or Twitter entirely for Lent.
