THE
P RTAL
November 2017
Page 17
Using Smartphones and
Tablets to aid prayer
A modern question is pondered by Donato Tallo
H is Eminence
Robert, Cardinal Sarah, is the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and
Discipline of the Sacraments. His Eminence, who is originally from Guinea and was ordained to the
priesthood in 1969, has demonstrated that he is certainly a man of deep faith.
He is someone who has done a great deal to defend
both reverence and beauty in liturgical practices as
well as being a strong defender of traditional Catholic
liturgy and the celebration of ad orientem Mass.
Moreover, Cardinal Sarah has been a strong voice in
the Roman Curia on many important matters and has
certainly been very vocal on matters of both social
justice and traditional Catholic teaching.
At a recent conference in Rome in September,
Cardinal Sarah made a comment that subsequently
sparked a great deal of debate. The address delivered
by the Cardinal at the conference was entitled ‘Silence
and the Primacy of God in the Sacred Liturgy’, during
which the Cardinal said, “Perhaps it is very practical to
pray the breviary with my own mobile phone or tablet
but it is not worthy; it desacralises prayer”.
be able to use the app. While of course there always
is the possibility of distractions when praying using a
phone it is important to examine the matter from the
other perspective and consider that using a breviary
does not mean that distractions won’t be present when
a person is praying.
Whenever I stop to pray using the app on my phone
I always put my phone into airplane mode, meaning I
will receive no incoming messages or communications
while airplane mode is activated. All of us should
be concerned with how we are internally preparing
ourselves for prayer and whether we are holding
a smartphone or a breviary as our aid to a Sacred
Office, this should not influence how we mentally and
emotionally approach our prayers if we close ourselves
off to distractions and open our hearts to God.
Smartphones and tablets really have changed the world
and of course there are arguments that are in support of
them and others that are not. With regard to smartphones
however, it is clear that at one point a phone was simply
just that - a phone - a device used to call and speak to
another person, but now of course smartphones play an
important part of many people’s lives. Smartphones for
many people are not just phones, as well as being devices
used to communicate with people either by calling,
texting or other messaging apps many people use their
smartphones for a range of other purposes in life some of
which include e-mails, browsing the Internet, shopping,
As someone who leads a busy life, the ease of having, banking, managing travel, reading the news, weather
and knowing that I have, an appropriately approved forecasts and checking sport results to name but a few.
and easy to navigate app on my smartphone with the Moreover, for many people their smartphones are also
Liturgy of the Hours, Mass readings and a lot more their cameras, alarm clocks, diary and map, many people
besides on it is simply fantastic. My smartphone goes also use their phones to watch videos, listen to the radio
everywhere with me, I am never without it and, in all and access a range of media and social networks.
honesty, it would not be practical or easy for me to
carry my breviary around with me everywhere that I go.
The Church needs to be encouraging prayer and
devotion to God especially in our secular and narcissistic
By having an app on my phone that is liturgically world, which can be incredibly toxic to all people but
correct and laid out simply but clearly, I am able to especially the young. I feel the use of approved and
pray the Liturgy of the Hours wherever I may be as my appropriate liturgical apps should be promoted and
phone is always with me, I don’t even need a signal to
... continued at the foot of page 22 Ø
Since reading this comment, I have spent a great
deal of time reflecting and pondering on this issue.
Cardinal Sarah is indeed a very wise man; he is very
supportive of the Ordinariate and is also someone
who I personally find very inspirational, it is clear that
within his ministry he is certainly concerned with the
salvation of souls. However, as someone who uses an
app on my smart phone in order to pray the Sacred
Offices and read the Daily Mass readings, I personally
beg to differ with His Eminence on this matter, but of
course in a respectful and polite manner.