In his message for the 50th World Day of Social Communications, Pope Francis said: “E-mails, text messages, social networks and chats can also be fully human forms of communication. It is not technology that determines whether or not communication is authentic but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal.
“Social networks can facilitate relationships and promote the good of society but they can also lead to further polarisation and division between individuals and groups.
“The digital world is a public square, a meeting place where we can either encourage or demean one another, engage in a meaningful discussion or unfair attacks. The internet can help us to be better citizens.
“Access to digital networks entails a responsibility for our neighbour whom we do not see but who is nonetheless real and has a dignity which must be respected.
“The internet can be used wisely to build a society that is healthy and open to sharing.”
Christian marriage is not an ideal for the few
In his annual address to the tribunal of the Roman Rota, Pope Francis said Christian marriage is not an ideal for the few but is “a reality that, in the grace of Christ, can be experienced by all the baptised”.
The Pope emphasised the importance of upholding the Church’s teaching on marriage. This, he said, is “a mission that is always current, but of special relevance in our time”.
The Church recognises that many young people enter into marriage without a proper understanding of their responsibilities, the Pope continued.
He remarked that “among Christians, some have a strong faith, formed by charity, strengthened by good catechesis and nurtured in prayer and sacramental life, whereas others have a weak and neglected faith, unformed, uneducated or forgotten”.
Nevertheless he said the goals of Christian marriage can be attained by all couples, and in fact, many couples learn to appreciate “the fullness of God’s plan for marriage” only gradually, by experience.
Muslim who shielded Christians dies
A young Muslim teacher who shielded Christian fellow passengers with his own body when their bus was attacked by Islamist militants in Kenya in December, has died of his injuries.
Salah Farah, a 26-year-old Kenyan teacher, died in hospital in Nairobi during surgery to remove a bullet. Farah became an international name after he shielded Christians with his own body during an attack by Islamist militants on the bus carrying them. The attackers told the Muslims to move away from Christian passengers, but Farah, together with several other Muslim passengers refused.
Farah leaves his pregnant wife, four children and his elderly father.
Call to protect holy sites in Iraq
The patriarchate of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq has called upon the Iraqi government and its allies to do more to protect holy sites – both Christian and Islamic – from the forces of the so-called Islamic State.
This statement was made after confirmation of the news that Iraq’s oldest monastery had been destroyed by IS.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)