Spanish bishop calls on young people to give up text messages for Lent

Girona, Spain, Feb 28, 2008 / 15:43 pm

The Diocese of Girona in Spain, together with Caritas Girona, is calling on young people to “abstain” from sending text messages during Lent—which ends on March 20—as part of the Lenten campaign called “Disconnect to get connected.”

The campaign encourages young people aged 14 to 30 to give up three text messages per day and to spend less time connected to the internet during the forty days of Lent.

According to Caritas, sending three less text messages per day means saving $36 over the 40 day period.  The youth director for the Diocese of Girona, Jordi Callejon, explained that next year the campaign will be spread to all of Catalonia, since the 2,500 pamphlets that were printed have all been distributed and “schools are getting very involved.”

In order to take part in the campaign, young people should donate the money they save to a charity and the time they save staying off the internet should be used helping those in need.

Callejon said the purpose is to make young people aware that “by saving three messages, they can help other kids who don’t have the same advantages.”

He also noted the benefits of spending less time in front of the computer and instead helping others.  “The important thing is to make them aware, not the money that they give,” he emphasized.