Pope Francis on Sunday decried the increasing use of social media in a
June 9 (UPI) –Pope Francis on Sunday decried the increasing use of social media in a „culture of insults“ during his Pentecost Mass that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Apostles.
The pontiff told the thousands of faithful in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square in „the age of the computer, distances are increasing: the more we use the social media, the less social we are becoming.“
That has led to anger.
„Nowadays it is fashionable to hurl adjectives and, sadly, even insults,“ Francis said.
Rather than trade harsh words he recommended responding „to malice with goodness, to shouting with silence, to gossip with prayer, to defeatism with encouragement.“
He said the lack of harmony in today’s world has led to „stark division.“
„There are those who have too much and those who have nothing, those who want to live to a hundred and those who cannot even be born,“ Francis said.
He decried the temptation to cling „our little group, to the things and people we like,“ adding „it’s only a „small step from a nest to a sect, even within the church.
