The Pope Wants You Heathens To Stop Trolling And Spreading Online “Tittle-Tattle” For Lent

People have been getting too rowdy on the internet lately, and Pope Francis has had enough.

In an Ash Wednesday speech at the Vatican, the Pope suggested that Catholics give up shit talk online for Lent. In other words, he wants people to stop trolling.

While the 83-year-old didn’t actually use the word “trolling” — he said “useless words, gossip, rumors, tittle-tattle” instead — he did specifically mention the internet, and the special type of nastiness that it facilitates.

“It is the time to disconnect from your cell phone and connect to the Gospel,” he said.

“We live in an environment polluted by too much verbal violence, by many offensive and harmful words, which the internet amplifies.”

The Pope himself has been the victim of trolling in the past, especially from those who think he is too progressive. With nine official Twitter accounts, he’s probs got DMs from haters in nine different languages, including Latin.

“We have become used to hearing everything about everyone and we risk slipping into a worldliness that atrophies our hearts,” he said. He’s right.

The speech was a slight deviation from previous years. In 2014 the Pope declared that the internet was good, actually, going so far as to call it “a gift from God.”

So it seems the Pope doesn’t hate us being online, he just hates us being dickheads to one another behind a keyboard.

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