Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and head of the Doctrine of the Faith at the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), offers Exaudi readers his weekly article.

FACTS

No one can doubt the benefits that cell phone use has brought. It’s an extraordinary help, a fruit of the great intellectual capacity God has placed in our minds. We can relate better, explore various options, and make many decisions in life. How much easier it has become, things that used to be so difficult for us! However, in some cases, it has become a tool that binds people so much that they can’t live without constantly being on it, and as a result, they distance themselves from people and reality.

A person asked me if her sacramental confession had been valid because the priest who assisted her in the confessional was looking at and using his cell phone the entire time. From the moment the confession began, and the person was recounting their sins, the priest was more focused on his cell phone than on what was being said. She barely finished recounting her sins, and the priest gave her absolution without taking his eyes off his phone. Was her confession valid? Of course, it was valid for the person, since God sees the heart; but how disrespectful on the part of the priest! It’s better for her not to even sit down to confession. It’s a very sacred moment, and the faithful deserve all respect, to be heard and cared for with both mind and heart, in the style of Jesus.

When I’ve led spiritual retreats for priests, seminarians, or nuns, it’s common for someone to be more focused on their cell phone than meditating. In assemblies or meetings of all kinds, from representatives and senators to bishops and pastoral workers, when various issues are being discussed, some vote without knowing what’s being decided, or express their opinions without taking into account what others have already expressed, because they were more focused on the latest news or information on their cell phones, often irrelevant, than on what was being discussed. Curiosity takes hold of them. And if they forget or lose it, they feel lost. They depend so much on it! The same thing happens in families, when at mealtimes they no longer converse, but instead each person is looking at their cell phone. Sometimes it happens among couples, who spend long periods of time on their cell phones instead of sharing their lives.

In some places, their use has been banned in elementary schools to prevent children from becoming so distracted that they don’t pay attention to their teachers and fail to retain or memorize anything, because everything slips by them. In other instances, ways are being found to discourage students from using cell phones so they don’t lose focus.

LIGHTNING

Pope Leo XIV said to the  digital missionaries , on the occasion of their Jubilee:

“Jesus called his first apostles while they were repairing their fishing nets. He also asks us to do this; indeed, he asks us today to build other networks: networks of relationships, networks of love, networks of free exchange, where friendship is authentic and profound. Networks where what has been broken can be repaired, where loneliness can be healed, regardless of the number of followers, but rather by experiencing in each encounter the infinite greatness of Love. Networks that open space for others, more than for themselves, where no ‘filter bubble’ can drown out the voice of the weakest. Networks that liberate, networks that save. Networks that make us rediscover the beauty of looking into each other’s eyes. Networks of truth. In this way, each story of shared good will be the knot of a single and immense network: the network of networks, the network of God. Be, then, agents of communion, capable of breaking the logic of division and polarization, of individualism and egocentrism. Focus on Christ, to overcome the logic of the world, from fake news and frivolity, with the beauty and light of truth”  (29-VII-2025).

At the meeting with young people on the occasion of their Jubilee, he told them:

“Now, among the many cultural connections that characterize our lives, the internet and social media have become an extraordinary opportunity for dialogue, encounter, and exchange between people, as well as for access to information and knowledge. However, these tools are ambiguous when they are dominated by commercial logic and interests that disrupt our relationships intermittently. In this regard, Pope Francis recalled that sometimes the ‘mechanisms of communication, advertising, and social media can be used to turn us into sleepy beings, dependent on consumption.’ Then our relationships become confused, anxious, or unstable. Furthermore, as you know, today there are algorithms that tell us what to watch, what to think, and who our friends should be. And then our relationships become confusing, sometimes anxious. For when the tool dominates man, man becomes a tool: yes, a market tool and, in turn, a commodity. Only sincere relationships and stable ties foster stories of a good life.” (2-VIII-2025).

ACTIONS

Let’s educate ourselves to be free and know when to use our cell phones and when to ignore them. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the person in front of us: if we hear them without listening because we’re focused on our phones, they won’t feel taken into account. Loving others also means caring for them, before caring for our phones.