You’d think people wouldn’t have to be told, but selfies are so common these days that some people—including priests and bishops—have been taking them during Papal masses. And the Pope would like it to stop.
He told the crowd at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square recently that “At a certain point the priest leading the ceremony says ‘lift up our hearts’. He doesn’t say ‘lift up our mobile phones to take photographs’…It’s so sad when I’m celebrating mass here or inside the basilica and I see lots of phones held up – not just by the faithful, but also by priests and bishops! Please!”
That apparently doesn’t extend to less formal occasions, where he’s been willing to pose with members of the crowd at his appearances. But while he has praised the internet and social media as “a gift of god,” this is not the first time he’s called for limits; in February at a youth rally, he said children should get off their phones during family meals and have face-to-face conversations.
