NEWS
Why I vowed 34 years ago never to watch television again – Pope Francis
The supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis has revealed that he stopped watching television about 34 years ago. He stated his reasons for his abstinence.
According to the clergyman, he placed himself on the self-imposed ban after coming across a smutty show while with his colleagues.
He explained that the adult content was so bad for his conscience that he had to carry out this sanctification.
Pope Francis said he hasn’t watched the box for almost 34 years.
He said: “I was watching television in the lounge with my fellow priests.
“It was July 15, 1990, and some scenes of an adult nature, to put it delicately, were being shown — something that was not good for the heart.
“Nothing risqué, of course, but when I went back to my room, I said to myself, ‘A priest cannot look at such things.’
“And so, the following day, during the mass for the feast of the Madonna del Carmelo, I vowed never to watch television again.”
The 87-years-old Pope said that one of the last things he watched properly on TV was the fall of the Berlin Wall – in 1989.
He, however, stated that there have been a couple of exceptions to his self-imposed sanction.
Speaking via his new book “Life: My Story Through History”, Pope Francis said, “Only very occasionally do I allow myself to watch: for example, when a new president is sworn in, or I watched briefly once when there had been a plane crash.
“I switched it on, too, to follow Sunday mass while I was being treated at the Gemelli University Hospital in Rome.
“But I didn’t watch the coronation of Charles III, the new British king, for example, or many other important world events. Not out of disdain, but because I made a vow.”
