Pope Francis chills with youngsters on Google hangout
Pope Francis continues to reign as the coolest Pope to walk this Earth. First he declared that the Internet is a “gift from God” and now he’s…
The pope talks with special-needs kids about on the importance of technology in their education as well as about their dreams for the future. (Photo: Screengrab/Google video)
Pope Francis continues to reign as the coolest Pope to walk this Earth. First he declared that the Internet is a “gift from God” and now he’s hosted his second-ever Google hangout for youth from places as far as Brazil, India and Spain.
“With the help of technology, Pope Francis will extend a virtual embrace to others around the world who have disabilities and special needs,” Google said in a blog post announcing the event.
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In a nearly 20-minute hangout, the pope talked with special-needs kids about on the importance of technology in their education as well as about their dreams for the future.
He confessed he’s a technological “dinosaur” during the Google Hangout on Thursday morning. One of the youngsters asked if he likes to take pictures and upload them to a computer.
“Do you want me to tell you the truth?” Francis joked, according to the subtitles of the chat, which was conducted in Spanish. “I am old-fashioned when it comes to computers. I’m a dinosaur. I don’t know how to work a computer. What a pity, huh?”
Pope Francis greets the pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s square at the Vatican. (Shutterstock)
A 14-year-old from Argentina spoke about the tablet he uses and the pope asked, “Is it difficult…I don’t have one.”
Scholas Occurrentes, an educational group launched by the pope that aims to build bridges through technology, hosted the online dialogue.
The participants were students with disabilities from around the world.
The pope, has 5.4 million Twitter followers at his @pontifex account, has delivered a tempered message about technology in the past.
A year ago, he praised the Internet but expressed concern about the speed and impersonal nature of social media.
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In August, he warned altar servers not to spent too much time “chatting on the Internet or with smartphones, watching TV soap operas, and (using) the products of technological progress, which should simplify and improve the quality of life, but distract attention away from what is really important.”
The Google hangout launched Thursday morning. Here’s the nearly 20-minute long chit-chat, in case you missed it.
