![\"Pope](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/pope-francis-family-togetherness.jpg\")
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There’s something to be said about the benefits of sharing a good meal, sharing affections, stories, and events at the dinner table, and\u00a0how technology is causing interruptions with families these days\u00a0\u2014 how smartphones\u00a0are a huge interruption. On Wednesday, Pope Francis offered his take on how to restore quality family dinnertime.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis zeroed in on\u00a0this issue\u00a0during his weekly catechesis in St. Peter’s Square, discussing one of the most important characteristics of family life: togetherness.\u00a0During the Pope’s catechesis, he advised parents to remove smartphones from the dinner table, as a means to recover a sense of relationship within a family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there\u2019s no togetherness, there is selfishness; everyone thinks about himself,\u201d the Pope said, urging parents to recover family togetherness while adapting it to the times.<\/p>\n
For families around the world, too much screen time is quickly becoming a hot button issue \u2014 even celebrities have spoken out about the challenges of too much screen time<\/a>. Children are using smartphones and tablets at a younger and younger age, and as a result, mobile\u00a0technology is\u00a0causing families to become less involved with each other.<\/p>\n Pope Francis reflected on this harsh reality \u2014 that spending time on your smartphone makes you less present, less open, and can lead to a more divided family \u2014 and used his catechesis to help all families understand that restoring family togetherness begins at the dinner table.<\/p>\n Following is a snippet from the Pope\u2019s catechesis<\/a>:<\/p>\n Today we reflect on a characteristic of family life that we learn from the first years of life: togetherness. Sharing and being able to share is a precious virtue. Its symbol, its \u201cicon,\u201d is the family gathered around the dinner table. The sharing of a meal\u2014and beyond the food, sharing affections, stories and events\u2014is a fundamental experience. […]\n Pope Francis offered his advice to all families around the world, and his message could be resonating with people. He truly believes limiting screen time can save your family life and your children\u2019s ability to relate. What do you think \u2014 is he onto something or full of hot air? Is\u00a0device-free dinnertime<\/a> the answer to help\u00a0restore family togetherness?<\/p>\n photo credit: General Audience with Pope Francis<\/a> via photopin<\/a> (license)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s something to be said about the benefits of sharing a good meal, sharing affections, stories, and events at the dinner table, and\u00a0how technology is causing interruptions with families these days\u00a0\u2014 how smartphones\u00a0are a huge interruption. On Wednesday, Pope Francis offered his take on how to restore quality family dinnertime. Pope Francis zeroed in on\u00a0this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":48022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[2560,922,2566,2467,2563],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
\nTogetherness is a sure thermometer for measuring the health of relationships: if something isn\u2019t going well in a family, or if there\u2019s some hidden wound, it\u2019s immediately clear at the table. A family that almost never eats together, or that, rather than talking at table watches television or looks at the smartphone, is \u201cnot much of a family.\u201d When the children are attached to the computer and the telephone at the table, and don\u2019t listen to one another, this isn\u2019t family, it\u2019s a hostel! […]\n
\nToday, many social contexts pose obstacles to family togetherness. It\u2019s true, today it\u2019s not easy. We must find a way to recover it. At the table we talk, at the table we listen. No more silence, that silence that isn\u2019t the silence of nuns, but the silence of selfishness, where everyone does his own thing, or is on the television or computer \u2026 and they don\u2019t talk. No, no silence. We need to recover family togetherness while adapting it to the times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n