Pope Tells Nuns: Stop Spending So Much Time On Twitter

Pope Francis has issued a warning to nuns about the inherent evils of social media – telling them to spend more time with the bible, and less with their iPads.

The head of the Catholic church said nuns should be careful not to “waste time” with the likes of Twitter and Facebook.

Writing in a document entitled Vultum Dei Quaerere – Seeking the face of God – the Pontiff did concede that technology could be “useful help for formation and communication”.

“In our society, the digital culture has a decisive influence in shaping our thoughts and the way we relate to the world and, in particular, to other people. Contemplative communities are not immune from this cultural climate,” he wrote.

“Clearly, these media can prove helpful for formation and communication. At the same time, I urge a prudent discernment aimed at ensuring that they remain truly at the service of formation to contemplative life and necessary communication, and do not become occasions for wasting time or escaping from the demands of fraternal life in community.

“Nor should they prove harmful for your vocation or become an obstacle to your life wholly dedicated to contemplation.”

Some social media sisters, however, seem to be doing a good job when it comes to communicating online.

There are plenty of nuns on Twitter, who use it to promote religious podcasts and funding as well as the word of God – and everything else, from Pokemon Go to cat pictures.

Of course, the Pope himself is a Twitter user – and boasts 9.6m followers for his English language profile alone.

He managed to amass all these followers with just 886 tweets.

(Credit: Evandro Inetti/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock)