Pope Leo XIV greets the participants of Estate Ragazzi
God does not want to look at our mobile phones, but at our hearts
“We want Jesus to be here with us! We will pray together” with “the prayer that Jesus taught us, with one voice.” These were the words of Pope Leo XIV to the participants of Estate Ragazzi [Summer Kids’ day camp] in the Vatican on Monday morning, June 22, in the Paul VI Audience Hall.
Welcomed by the children, young people, and activity leaders of the summer camp, the Pope answered questions from Federico and Michela. Federico told the Pope that he has a lot of fun without a phone, but admitted that during the rest of the year it becomes almost impossible to detach himself from the screen. The risk, he pointed out, is losing sight of real friends or becoming closed off in one’s own world. He therefore asked how it is possible to become “technology champions, using it to do beautiful things without forgetting the friends around us.”
The Pope replied that “Technology can be very good and useful for many things, but when we are together, it is not necessary to have a cellphone, smartphone, or tablet in our hands at every moment. In fact, we are happy when, sometimes, we are not tied to a tablet or a phone.” The Pontiff then emphasized that “It is very important to build friendships, to come together, play together, and perhaps even study together as persons—not as computers or machines, not as techno-robots. We are human beings, we are people, and contact with others is very important.”
He then referred to the family: “It is not enough for us all to be sitting there, each person looking at their own phone. It is very important to learn how to engage in dialogue, to converse, to enjoy being with others, to play together, and also to pray together, because even if we can have the Bible and some prayers on our phones, God does not want to look at our phones: God wants to look at our hearts, our lives.”
The Pope then invited everyone to be aware of “a kind of addiction that is deliberately built into programs and applications, the apps that are on our phones. They try to make us dependent on this technology. Therefore, many times, it would help a great deal to set limits.” Hence his invitation to “seek God in prayer, seek God together, within the family, and live a little more freely from this dependence on technology.”
Michela referred to this year’s theme of Estate Ragazzi: “Around the World in 80 Days.” She therefore asked the Pope to reveal a secret about his travels. The Pontiff recalled that on several occasions, while using GPS to travel by car in various countries—including Italy, Peru, and the United States of America—he was directed down the wrong road and ended up stuck, unable to reach his destination.
For this reason, he stressed that “it is important not to be too dependent on technology. It is much better for us to learn to think for ourselves, to develop the critical ability to know where we are going in life, on our journeys, in everything we do. Study well, use the ability that God has given us! I don’t need a cellphone if my brain works! Yes, it can help me, it can give me information, but it is also important to prepare ourselves well for the journey.”
Afterward, the Pope was named Chief Explorer and was presented with an explorer’s kit and an Estate Ragazzi plaque.
For the participants of Estate Ragazzi—wearing caps and T-shirts in different colors according to their age groups: ages 3 to 5 (Mini Club), age 6 (Green Group), ages 7–8 (Yellow Group), ages 9–10 (Light Blue Group), and ages 11–13 (Blue Group)—it was an opportunity to reflect on this year’s theme, inspired by Jules Verne’s famous novel Around the World in 80 Days. It is a journey that helps them face the unexpected without giving up, find solutions with creativity and adaptability, work together to achieve a common goal, discover different traditions, curiosities, and stories, and learn that we only truly win when we grow together.
At the end of the meeting, after the prayer of the Our Father, the Pope blessed those present, including Sister Raffaella Petrini, Archbishop Emilio Nappa, and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi—respectively President and Secretaries General of the Governorate of Vatican City State—as well as Father Franco Fontana, Coordinator of the Chaplains of the Directorates and Central Offices and of the Estate Ragazzi initiative.
The initiative—reserved for the children of employees of the Governorate and the Holy See—was organized by the Governorate of Vatican City State and coordinated by Father Fontana. It began on Monday, June 15, and will conclude on Friday, July 31.
