Pope to students: don’t be slaves
to your mobile phones
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| Pope Francis receives students and teachers of Rome's Visconti High School (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis receives students and teachers of a Rome high
school in the Vatican, encouraging them to cultivate passion and curiosity and
warning them against dependency on their mobile phones.
By Linda Bordoni
“Phones are for connecting” Pope Francis told
an enthusiastic Paul VI Hall full of students: “life is for communicating!”
The girls and boys, accompanied by family members and
teachers of Rome’s Visconti High School clapped loudly when
the Pope turned his attention to their ever-present digital devices.
"Free yourself from the addiction to mobile
phones" he warned, pointing out that they are good and useful tools, but
must be used in the right way.
Speaking off-the-cuff during his wide-ranging and
to-the-point discourse, the Pope said “Mobile phones are for communication” and
communication is beautiful and good. But, he continued, the danger of becoming
addicted to mobile phones is very tangible at present.
Every one, he continued, should know how to use one, “but
when you become a slave to your mobile phone, you will lose your freedom”.
Schools must promote culture of encounter
Pope Francis also expressed his deep belief that education
is a precious right and said that schools must be places where a culture of
inclusion and the respect for diversity must be promoted.
School, he said, must be a laboratory that anticipates and
prepares for the future of collectivity.
“Please don't be afraid of diversity. Dialogue between
different cultures enriches the country, enriches our homeland: it teaches us
to look to a future in which there is a place and a home for all, not just for
some” he said.
The Pope noted that, in the wake of the Second Vatican
Council, the Church is committed to promote the universal value of fraternity
which is based on freedom, on the honest search for truth, on the promotion of
justice and solidarity, especially in regards to the weakest in society.
“Without the search for these values, there can be no true
coexistence” he said, and this is something for which "I'm sorry, I'm
sorry, I'm so sorry”.
Bullying
The Pope also touched on the scourge of bullying which is a
problem in many school environments.
“It pains me so much to see bullying in some schools” he
said inviting the students to fighting bullying which he said contains the
seeds of war.
Finally, he urged the young people present “never to stop
dreaming big and hoping for a better world for all: “don’t settle for
mediocrity in relationships, in cultivating who you are, in planning for your
future, in your commitment for a more just and more beautiful world”.
Tomorrow, he reminded them, is the beginning of Holy week
which culminates on Easter Day with the resurrection of Christ, the foundation
of Christian hope: “It is also a time of renewal for the soul, a time to
blossom!” Pope Francis said, inviting those present to do so with trust in the
Lord as it is He who gives us the strength and the courage to face the
difficulties we will find on our journey.
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