Pope Francis urges people to have conversations instead of using digital devices at meal times

Pope Francis urged people to talk to each other at mealtimes instead of using their mobile phones, citing Jesus, Mary and Joseph as an example for families to follow.

They ‘prayed, worked and communicated with each other’, the pope told those gathered in St Peter’s Square yesterday during his weekly address.

‘I ask myself if you, in your family, know how to communicate or are you like those kids at meal tables where everyone is chatting on their mobile phone… where there is silence like at a Mass but they don’t communicate,’ the Pope said. ‘

We have to get back to communicating in our families. Fathers, parents, children, grandparents, brothers and sisters – this is a task to undertake today, on the day of the Holy Family.’

It is not the first time the pontiff has criticised smartphones.

Earlier this year he told students at Rome’s Visconti High School: ‘Phones are for connecting – life is for communicating. Free yourself from the addiction… when you become a slave to your mobile phone, you will lose your freedom.’

The Pope cited Jesus, Mary and Joseph as an example for families to follow. They ‘prayed, worked and communicated with each other’, the pope told those gathered in St Peter’s Square yesterday during his weekly address [File photo]