On November 13, Pope Benedict gave a talk about the Internet.

He said, “Many young people, deafened by the infinite possibilities offered by information networks or other technologies, maintain forms of communication that do not contribute to maturation in humanity, but rather threaten to increase the sense of solitude and hopelessness.

“In the face of such phenomena, I have spoken many times of the educational crisis, a challenge to which we can and must respond with creative intelligence . . . .

 “For this difficult and fascinating task, the Church can draw on the extraordinary patrimony of symbols, images, rites and gestures of her tradition. In particular, of the Liturgy, in all its power as a communicative element . . . .”

As usual, many people criticised the Pope for being too negative etc.

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But at least four of the Pope’s phrases are worth thinking about:

(1) Solitude: The Internet makes it easier to communicate with more people. That sounds like the opposite of solitude. But is it? Many people today would know a hundred people with whom they can talk about the weather, fashions, gossip etc. — but not one friend with whom to share their deepest concerns.

(2) Hopelessness: the Internet can lead us to regard other people as “things”, not as fellow children of God.What more hopeless than to relate more to electronic machines and images than to real people?  The worst examples being cyber-bullying and pornography. Turning to pornography risks real addiction, with the desire for ever greater stimulation and more perverse depictions.

(3) Educational crisis: Those spending long hours at the computer inevitably neglect their studies and reading. Research confirms that those devoting most time to Facebook etc. do worst at school. Some of them risk losing the very ability to read and study effectively.

(4) Liturgy: The Pope asserts that traditional worship is the solution to all this. That worshipping is the high point of human communication. That the Catholic liturgy — the prayers of the Mass, in particular — are our way to learn to communicate with God . . . .

And that celebrating Mass together binds believers to each other in a supernatural communication impossible to find any other way.