Picking up the theme in his remarks to tourists and passers-by in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said a failure to make peace before going to bed at night can lead to a “cold war” the next morning.
“How many times, unfortunately, conflicts originate within the domestic walls due to prolonged periods of silence and from unchecked selfishness!” he said. “Sometimes it even ends up in physical and moral violence. This lacerates harmony and kills the family.”
He urged families to put down their cellphones at the dinner table and talk. “It’s sad to see a family at lunch, each one with his or her own cell phone not speaking to one another, everyone talking to the mobile phone,” he said.
Then when an argument breaks out, each one repeats their refrains “staging a comedy they’ve already seen where everyone wants to be right and in the end a cold silence falls. That sharp, cold silence, after a family discussion, is ugly, so very ugly!” he said.
He urged parents to think not of themselves but others, and to pray “for the gift of peace.”
This article originally appeared here.
