Vatican Warns Against Cell Phones & Net

Pope Benedict XVI is warning against the excesses of modern life. His spokeman, Father Federico Lombardi, said that without a spiritual life, people risked losing their souls. And cell phones and computers are harming that spiritual life.

"In the age of the cell phone and the internet it is probably more difficult than before to protect silence and to nourish the interior dimension of life," Father Lombardi told the Vatican television show Octavia Dies. "It is difficult but necessary."

"There is an interior and spiritual dimension of life that must be guarded and nourished. If it is not, it can become barren to the point of drying up and, indeed, dying," he added.

The Vatican has long counselled against the excesses of modern life. Last month, Pope Benedict XVI said that the current global financial crisis was proof that the pursuit of money and success is pointless, and that wealth meant nothing.

However, Pope Benedict has embraced many aspects of modern technology in order to convey the Catholic message to a young, tech-savvy audience. At World Youth Day in Sydney, the Pope texted daily messages of inspiration and hope to attendees, while digital prayer walls were erected on-site. At the same event, many Catholics frowned at the presence of less modern but equally competitive entertainment, the ever-present CHICK TRACTS, many of which criticized the Vatican and its teachings. At least we know the Pope approves of the format of the tracts, even if he doesn't appreciate the message they convey. See Chick's THE MAD MACHINE.