A Church official urged Catholics on Ash Wednesday to reclaim time for prayer and reflection, echoing the bishops’ call for “digital media fasting” during Lent.
Monsignor Bernardo Pantin, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said time spent online often displaces moments for prayer, family and real-world relationships.
“If we make time during Lent, it should be a time for prayer, a time for our family, and a time for one another,” Pantin told church-goers at the Manila Cathedral.
He said no technology can replace interpersonal relationships, noting that people with numerous online connections can still experience loneliness.
“This Lent, let us give it attention, because by stepping away, even for a time, from social media, we can make time for the Lord, for ourselves, and for our families,” Pantin said.
The CBCP earlier urged Catholics to go beyond fasting from food by also abstaining from social media and other digital distractions.
In a Feb. 13 pastoral letter, the bishops warned that social media and online entertainment have become significant sources of distraction that “weakens our interior life.”
“True fasting, as Jesus teaches, is not an external performance but an interior conversion,” the bishops said.
“Digital media fasting, therefore, invites a rediscovery of silence, prayer, contemplation, and authentic relationships. It is not meant to punish the body but to free the heart,” they added.
Church rules require Catholics aged 18 to 59 to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, while Catholics 14 and older must abstain from meat.
Pantin said many Filipinos view meat abstinence or fasting as less sacrificial due to cultural habits, suggesting that limiting social media may be more meaningful.
A Digital 2026 report by Meltwater and We Are Social said Filipinos spend an average of 54 hours weekly on online media, far above the global average.
The report ranked the Philippines second worldwide in time spent on online media, citing more than 98 million internet users.
Of those users, 97.8% access online media through mobile phones, while internet users spend more than 20 hours weekly watching online videos.
“Because of technology, we may have to look at fasting in another way. That is why the bishops speak of digital media fasting,” Pantin said. “It may seem unusual, but the point of sacrifice remains the same.”
