Italian priests have suggested that instead of giving up cigarettes and chocolates for Lent, Catholics could give up text messaging or turn off their MP3 players.
Italians, who send an average of 50 texts each a month, second in Europe only to the British, are being told to quit the habit during Lent by priests across Italy after a campaign was launched by the Catholic Missionary Centre in Modena and backed by the city's archbishop, The Age reports.
In Trento, worshippers have been instructed to share the suffering of Jesus during his 40 days in the wilderness by switching off their MP3s and doing without Facebook. A priest near Turin has distributed black cloths to children to drape over their televisions.
The anti-technology drive drew a mixed reaction from Catholics.
"Good Friday expresses the pain of Christ and to suggest that a texting strike is the way to commemorate this is ridiculous," said Gianni Gennari, a journalist at Avvenire, a newspaper affiliated with the Catholic church.
"Priests should ask worshippers to skip a cup of coffee and donate the money saved to the poor."
Gian Maria Vian, director of Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, said: "Texts are just a tool and are therefore neutral by nature, neither good nor bad."
SOURCE
Priests call for a techno sacrifice (The Age)