Pope Francis says put down your phones and turn off the TV this lent
In a world "polluted by too much verbal violence", Pope Francis warned of the "offensive and harmful words" being amplified online in a speech to a general audience on Ash Wednesday.
Pope Francis said Lent should be a time to switch from such technology and "open the Bible" instead.
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"It is the time to give up useless words, chatter, rumours, gossip, and talk and to speak directly to the Lord."
There was no television when Pope Francis was a child and his family made a point of not listening to the radio, he told thousands of attendants in St Peter's Square.
He also reminded people of the importance of fasting over the 40-day Lent period, saying: "Fasting is being capable of giving up the superfluous and going to the essential.
"Fasting is not only losing weight, it is seeking the beauty of a simpler life."