Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - "One sociologist said: With the invention of the mobile phone, the era of humanity came to an end. And this is a serious matter: we have started to measure our humanity with technological tools, but machines have no human feelings". With these words, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, warns of the dangers of dehumanization through the influence of social media, which in his opinion threaten social coexistence. He did this in an address to about 200 Egyptian boys and girls who took part in the first "Logos Forum" of the Coptic Orthodox Church. As part of the youth meeting, young Coptic Orthodox Christians are staying in the Anba Bishoy monastery in the desert region of Wadi Natrun until August 30th. Pope Tawadros also called on the forum participants to cultivate their family and community roots, to value the upbringing their parents received, to develop a feeling of compassion for those in need and to follow in the footsteps of those who lived their lives with generosity and gratuitousness, considering others as brothers to be served, and not to exploit others as tools for their own profit.
For some time now, Coptic Orthodox groups and individual representatives of the Coptic Orthodox Church have critically questioned the effects that social networks and social media have on the specific experiences of church communities. With this critical approach, they contradict many ecclesiastical institutions that take the view that the effectiveness of preaching the Christian witness is increased precisely through the use of sophisticated strategies of social communication. In the recent past (see Fides, 16/11/2020) Pope Tawadros himself affirmed that it is not social networks and marketing and communication strategies that will open the doors to paradise for today's men and women. "Everyone receives the gift of time from God, 24 hours a day", emphasized the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch in a speech to members of the Egyptian Rotary Club Alexandria-Pharos, reminding them that if you spend a large part of your life on social networks, you are wasting this treasure, as is the case with many young people. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 27/8/2021)
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