Pope Francis spoke November 28 with the spiritual family of the saint who "invented" public schooling, St. Joseph Calasanz.
The occasion was the 75th anniversary of the Calasantian Family, in the educational charism of the universal patron of all Christian popular schools in the world, St. Joseph Calasanz.
The Holy Father's address focused on their educational and spiritual charism. But he also recounted an anecdote shared with him by a bishop.
"Today it is very urgent to help young people [...] “make unity” in themselves and with others, in a world that instead pushes them increasingly in the direction of fragmentariness in feelings and cognition, and individualism in relationships," he said.
We have to insist on "normal" relationships, the Pope continued, "looking each other in the eye, and not virtual relationships via the mobile phone."
You are a beautiful family
Pope Francis shared that a bishop was being visited by his cousins, who had invited him to a restaurant on Sunday.
At the next table there was a family: father, mother, son and daughter, all of them with their mobile phones, not speaking to each other.
The bishop, very imprudent, got up, approached them and said: “Look, you are a beautiful family, why do you talk on your mobile phones? Why don’t you talk to each other, which is much more beautiful?”
They listened to him, sent him away, and carried on as before.
Pope Francis concluded the story with a brief assessment of the situation: "This is terrible, a lack of humanity."
