Bishop Ignatie of Huși spoke about behaviour in the online environment, where a simple click can betray a lack of love for our neighbour.
In his address in Vaslui last Sunday, the Romanian hierarch reflected on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, saying that, unfortunately, people often become complicit with those who harm the innocent, sometimes without even realising it.
He illustrated this with examples from social media, where people frequently share reprehensible content about others without considering the consequences, the Diocese of Huși reports.
“We do not stand up for those who are abused, despised or unjustly slandered. Frequently, we become participants in very serious situations. How? A click given to a post containing violence, aggression, slander or lies is nothing other than agreeing with that content.”
“Sharing online content in which someone is spiritually defiled is equivalent to the sin of the one who produced those reprehensible things that destroy love. Let us not deceive ourselves! A click on a post with aggressive content that harms someone’s image is not innocent in any way,” the Bishop of Huși said.
What do we choose to do with a click?
He continued, explaining that by sharing or amplifying negative things about a person, we reveal how insensitive we have become — the very opposite of the Good Samaritan.
“It shows that within us there is a thirst — and this is evident because the most accessed content in the virtual environment is that in which someone is attacked, slandered, verbally abused or publicly shamed.”
“Nothing positive or good has any rating or traction in written or online media, only the negative. Why? Because we contribute to spreading this violent and verbally aggressive content, which is equivalent to being totally insensitive to a person’s suffering and even amplifying it by what we do,” he added.
How do we use technology?
The bishop suggested that technology should be used to help our neighbours — but lamented that this happens far too rarely.
“I understand technology in this logic: as a very simple way to offer love to someone next to you, even if they are hundreds of kilometres away — a message, a phone call, an email, a social-media message through which we show our presence and that we are beside them when they face terrible suffering and trials,” Bishop Ignatie said.
After the Divine Liturgy, he blessed the patronal icon and blessed the works at the parish house of the church dedicated to Saints Constantine and Helen and Saint Menas.
As a sign of gratitude, he awarded the parish priest, Fr. Constantin Pârcălabu, the diocesan Cross “Bishop Grigorie Leu,” the highest distinction of the diocese.
Photo: Huși Diocese
