Bishop urges social media ‘fasting’ during Lent

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

A Catholic bishop urged the faithful to cut down on their use of social media during the Lenten season so that they could “connect” more with others, especially the poor and the sick, through personal acts of service and compassion.

According to Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, one could make better use of his time during the 40 days of Lent by praying, reflecting or spending time with others rather than browsing through one’s social media feed.

“Instead of browsing through Facebook, let us pray, read the Bible or talk with someone who is sick. What you deny to yourself, you give to others. It’s important that we connect with others,” Pabillo said over Radio Veritas.

In their 2019 report, social media management companies Hootsuite and We Are Social found that Filipinos, compared to other nationalities, spent the most time online at 10 hours and two minutes a day. The worldwide average was only six hours and 42 minutes.

Filipinos also clocked the most number of hours on social media at four hours and 12 minutes daily, when the average time spent worldwide was only two hours and 16 minutes. The study showed there were 76 million Filipino social media users.

Earlier, Pabillo reminded Catholics that Lent was a time for penance, prayer and almsgiving. It is during these days, he said, that “we deny ourselves to gain more self-control and to free ourselves from the pull of sin.”

“The purpose is to say ‘no’ to self so that we can say ‘yes’ to God and to others. We say ‘yes’ to God by praying more and intently during these days. We say ‘yes’ to others by [doing] various works of charity,” he said.