During a gathering of seminarians on Monday, Pope Francis responded to a query regarding priests using digital and social media, and according to a transcript of the conversation the Vatican issued on Wednesday, he didn't hold back. The pope claimed that he doesn't use social media because he is too old, but the next generation of priests must make limited use of this technological marvel.
There are risks in the digital world, such as getting sidetracked by the news or music that prevents you from finishing your task. Another risk that the Pope mentioned is digital pornography.
"But each one of you think about if you have experience or have been tempted with digital pornography. It's a vice that many people have, many lay men and women, and even priests and nuns," Pope Francis said, according to Yahoo News.
Pope's advice to nuns, priests
After saying that even priests and nuns watch pornography, Pope Francis gave an advice to them.
To avoid temptation, the Pope advised aspiring priests to remove any such apps from their phones.
"The devil enters from there, weakening the priestly heart," Pope Francis warned, according to Aljazeera. "I tell you, it is something that weakens the soul. It weakens the soul.'
The Pope spoke generally about the digital age in his remarks, which were posted on the Vatican website.
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He claimed that rather than being continuously diverted by things like news and music, individuals needed to "know how to use it wisely."
As for th Pope, he doesn't us phones because he said he is old. He also disclosed that he received a mobile phone, the size of a shoe, upon becoming a bishop thirty years ago. He claimed he only made one call, to his sister, and then returned it.
Embarassing incident of Pope's Instagram account
In an incident that involves digital media, the Pope's official Instagram account liked a provocative photo from Brazilian glamour girl Natalia Garibotto in 2020, that caused embarrassment for the Vatican.
Said account, however, is not used by the Pope himself but a team of employees. The Vatican raised an investigation for said occurence which was noticed by many users and news outlets. The photo was "unliked" the next day.
Sky News reports that in response, model Garibotto, who has 2.4 million Instagram followers joked "at least I'm going to heaven."
She also light-heartedly tweeted: "Brb (be right back) on my way to the Vatican." Because of the incident, she claimed to have gotten 600,000 followers.
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