Pope Francis invites children to “not waste time on social networks”

Pope Francis entered the Paul VI room of the Vatican this Saturday, April 20, 2024, walking with a cane to meet with more than 6,000 children and teachers from the 137 schools integrated into the Italian network of Peace Schools.

The pontiff was received with a standing ovation by the children, who shouted cheers and thanks, while waving signs with the phrases: “Thank you, Pope Francis” and “Let’s stop the wars.”

“In this time still marked by war, I ask you to be artisans of peace” and “in a world crossed by global crises, I ask you to be builders of the future, so that our common home becomes a place of fraternity, solidarity and peace,” said Pope Francis.

“Today’s challenges and, above all, the risks that like dark clouds accumulate over us, threatening our future, have also become global. They affect us all, challenge the entire human community, require the courage and creativity of a collective dream that encourages constant commitment, to face together the environmental, economic, political and social crises that our planet is going through,” he explained.

And he added: “It is a dream that requires being awake and not asleep, because You get ahead by working, not by sleeping; walking the streets, not lying on the couch; using computer media well, not wasting time on social networks.

Francis also asked the members of the 137 Schools of Peace from 94 cities in 18 Italian regions to think about the children of Ukraine and Gaza and dedicate a moment of silence to them.

“I would like you to talk for two minutes about the war: think of the children who are at war. Think of the Ukrainian children who forgot to smile. Pray for these children. Put them in your hearts. Think of the children of Gaza, machine-gunned, hungry. Think of the children. Now a little silence and each of us think about the Ukrainian children and the children of Gaza,” he said.