CBCP: Log out from social media, log in to Bible

MANILA, Philippines — Instead of spending time checking the different social media sites this Lenten season, log out of it and log in for Bible-reading time.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Laity (CBCP-ECL) chairman, yesterday said

Lent should be a season to abstain from checking and posting on social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

He encouraged the Catholic faithful to use their free time to read the Bible and do corporal acts of mercy that include feeding the hungry; giving water to the thirsty, cloth to the naked, shelter to the homeless; and visiting the sick and those in prison.

In an interview over the Church-run Radio Veritas, Bishop Pabillo said abstaining from social media sites could also become acts of sacrifices that could be offered during the 40 days of Lent.

The season of Lent started March 6 and will end on Black Saturday, April 20, ahead of the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection on the early morning of Easter Sunday, April 21. 

“Instead of viewing Facebook or watching television, people should pray first or read the Bible or find time to talk to the sick. So those things that you deny yourself, you give back to others,” Pabillo said.

Radio Veritas said that according to We Are Social, a company that provides social media marketing and communication services to organizations, a Filipino spends an average of 10 hours on social media browsing and posting. 

Pope Francis earlier described text messages and social media as “gifts from God.” He also said that the internet, if left unchecked, could give a false illusion that it could satisfy people and make them “social hermits.”

He also warned that while the internet serves as a way to connect people, it could also be misused for cyber bullying. 

The Vatican News quoted the pontiff as saying that the internet “is an opportunity to promote encounter with others, but it can also increase our self-isolation, like a web that can entrap us.” 

He pointed out that it is the young people who are most exposed to the illusion that the social web can completely satisfy them on a relational level.

“There is the dangerous phenomenon of young people becoming ‘social hermits’ who risk alienating themselves completely from society. This dramatic situation reveals a serious rupture in the relational fabric of society, one we cannot ignore,” the pope warned.