Give up trolling for Lent, Pope urges

Pontiff tells Catholics to ‘disconnect’ from phones and ‘connect to the Gospel’ in Ash Wednesday address

Pope Francis used his Ash Wednesday address to urge Catholics around the world to give up trolling on social media for Lent. Speaking to 12,000 people in St Peter’s Square, he said believers should observe a fast not just of food but of online insults in order for them to become closer to God. Lent “is a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumours, tittle-tattle and speak to the Lord on first name terms”, the Pope said as he appealed for more online decorum.

POPE FRANCIS yesterday issued a plea for Catholics around the world to give up trolling on social media for Lent, saying that believers should observe a fast not just of food but of online insults in order for them to get nearer to God in the run-up to Easter.

The Pope issued his appeal for more online decorum in addressing 12,000 people in St Peter’s Square for his general audience on Ash Wednesday, the start of the 40-day period that leads up to Easter.

Lent, he said in remarks that were apparently off-the-cuff, “is a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumours, tittle-tattle and speak to the Lord on first name terms”.

“We live in an atmosphere polluted by too much verbal violence, too many offensive and harmful words, which are amplified by the internet,” he said.

“Today, people insult each other as if they were saying ‘Good Day’.”

“Lent is a time to disconnect from cell phones and connect to the Gospel,” he added, saying that Catholics should imitate Jesus’s retreat to the desert and seek silence.

In recent years, Pope Francis himself has been on the receiving end of vicious online attacks from ultra-conservative Catholic websites and often anonymous Twitter feeds. Twitter has become the platform of choice for furious rows between his supporters and detractors.

As the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, he has faced criticism from hardliners, many in the United States, for his stance on immigration, climate change and social issues, including moves to re-examine the Church’s teachings about sex.

The Pope has reached out to the LGBT+ community and divorcees, while expressing concern for the poor and the environment. Some critics have labelled the pontiff a communist for his critique of capitalism. Others have even accused Francis of heresy, and warned of the risk of a schism, or a formal separation from the Holy See.

Last September, he hit back by saying that while he welcomed “constructive criticism” he had no time for “those who smile while stabbing you in the back”.

“We are in a place where people use social media really as a bully pulpit,” said Helen Osman, president of Signis, an international association of lay Catholic communication professionals.

“People are worried about how social media are being used to create disunity or divisiveness... it does give the perception that we are a church internally in tension and maybe even in division,” she told the American newspaper National Catholic Reporter.

Yesterday, the pontiff celebrated Ash Wednesday in traditional fashion, having ashes rubbed on his forehead to remind Christians of mortality and that everyone will one day become dust.