Moscow, March 2, 2017
Photo: Pravmir.ru
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has condemned the unbridled pursuit of “likes” on social networks, and urged all believers to control their entertainment intake during Great Lent, focusing instead on the inner spiritual world.
Interfax-Religion quotes the primate from his homily on Tuesday evening in Moscow’s Theophany Cathedral: “There exists today in our social networks a real sickness, when especially young people are willing to do anything, even quite scary things, risking their lives, just so that someone would say they like this picture showing this or that thing.”
Someone people seem to see no purpose in life other than getting likes and take personal offense when they don’t get enough Patriarch Kirill noted. According to him, vanity is one of the sins, “which arouses in a person an incredible sensitivity to how people see him, and then the sole purpose of his life becomes actions, words, and deeds aimed at getting recognition from people.”
On Monday, His Holiness had also appealed to users of the Russian social network VKontakte, noting that in abstaining from certain foods we facilitate the inner change of our hearts, reports Pravmir.
His Holiness wrote, “How are we to pass through the field of Great Lent? Avoiding fast food and entertainment, we should pay heed to our inner condition and not judge our neighbor, not engage in empty banter, control our thoughts, feelings, and desires, but with this an integral component of Lent should be starting to do works of mercy and care for our neighbors.”
The patriarch also commented on the glut of images in our modern world which will “surely excite sinful thoughts,” cautioning all believers to keep vigilance over what they view.
