Pope Francis Urges Catholics To Stop Trolling For Lent 

Pope Francis addressed tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent), asking everyone in a modern twist to give up social media over the next 40 days leading up to Easter, reported Reuters. 

📹VIDEO: Pope Francis gave this advice for #Lent2020: “Turn off the television and open the Bible; disconnect from the cell phone and connect to the Gospel.”
He urged the faithful to step away from the noise of the world and spend more time with the Lord. #AshWednesday #Lent pic.twitter.com/aXwz5XnF0o

— EWTN News (@EWTNews) February 26, 2020

The Pope asked millions of his followers to stop trolling one another, adding that Lent “is a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumors, tittle-tattle, and speak to God on a first-name basis.”

Besides trolling, Twitter battles and meme wars, the Pope asked Catholics to unplug from technology to get closer to god: 

“We live in an environment polluted by too much verbal violence, by many offensive and harmful words, which the internet amplifies,” Francis said. “We are inundated with empty words, with advertisements, with subtle messages. We have become used to hearing everything about everyone, and we risk slipping into a worldliness that atrophies our hearts.

In this connected world, everyone is “hearing everything about everyone” in a moment’s notice, the Pope said, adding that Lent can serve as a digital detox program. “Lent is the right time to make room for the Word of God. It is time to turn off the television and open the Bible. It is the time to disconnect from your cell phone and connect to the Gospel,” he said.

Francis said, “when I was a little boy, there was no television… 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.”

His comments came on Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and abstinence for those celebrating Lent. Catholics often smear ashes on their forehead as a reminder of their mortality. As for this Lent, the Pope has requested social media, trolling, and all smart devices to be given up for the next 40-days.  

The likelihood that Catholics can give up social media for nearly six weeks would be impressive. Social media is highly addictive both physically and psychologically; certainly, there will be some that can’t even make it one day.