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Date: February 26, 2020 08:50PM
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/26/give-online-trolling-lent-pope-urges-catholics/Pope Francis has issued a vibrant call on Catholics around the world to give up trolling on social media for Lent, saying believers should observe a fast not just of food but of online insults to get nearer to God in the run-up to Easter.
The Pope issued his appeal for more online decorum in an address to 12,000 people in St Peter's Square for his general audience on Ash Wednesday, the start of the 40-day season 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’ retreat to the desert and seek silence.