Shh! Pope asks people to be more quiet

Pope Benedict XVI hailed the benefits of silent reflection to stop being “bombarded” by information from the internet but said social networks could be useful modes of communication.

Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning

“People today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware,” the Pope said in his now-traditional yearly message on the Vatican and social communications.

“It is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ecosystem that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds,” said the Pope, while also defending responsible internet communication.

“Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning,” the Pope said.

“In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated,” the 84-year-old Pope said in an apparent reference to the micro-blogging site Twitter.

But he added this was true only “as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives”.

In his message he extolled the sounds of silence.

He said silence makes people better listeners and better communicators, because they have more time to think about what they are saying.

“Joy, anxiety and suffering can all be communicated in silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression,” the Pope said.

“By remaining silent, we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself, and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested,” he said.

The Pope has used his annual social communications message to comment on social media, urging priests to blog and Catholics who evangelise on Facebook and other social networks to be respectful.

This year, his attention turned to the need to tune out the information overload to allow time for reflection.

“Joy, anxiety and suffering can all be communicated in silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression,” the Pope said.

The 84-year-old Pontiff is known to be quiet by nature. A theologian and lover of classical music, he speaks softly and is said to be an excellent listener.