London - Parents should eat with their children around the table every day to build a strong family life, Pope Francis said.
He said they must turn off smartphones, computers and televisions as children’s addiction to gadgets was isolating them.
The practice of eating family meals together is starting to vanish in societies where technology was replacing human interaction, the 78-year-old warned.
“A family that almost never eats together, or in does not talk at the table but instead watches the television, or smartphones, is not a close family,” the Pope said during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square, Rome.
“When children at the table are attached to the computer or the phone and don’t listen to each other, this is not a family, this is a pensioner. In the family, if something is wrong, or if there’s some hidden wound, at the table you see it right away.
“Sitting at the table for the family dinner, sharing our meal and the experiences of our day, is a fundamental image of togetherness and solidarity.”
His remarks were welcomed by the Family Education Trust, a UK charity that researches the causes and consequences of family breakdown.
The trust’s Norman Wells said: “The pace of modern life is such that, if we are not careful, we can find ourselves living fragmented lives, in isolation from our nearest and dearest. Family mealtimes should be embraced as a daily opportunity to cultivate a sense of togetherness.”
Daily Mail