It might sound banal, but the Pope’s Lenten message should resonate with everyone

While there are plenty of anachronisms in the Pontiff’s message, the central theme is something we can all take to heart, writes Janet Street-Porter

Pope Francis delivered his Lenten message this week

Pope Francis wants us to give up the internet for Lent, turn off our radios and televisions, and enjoy silence and contemplation. With coronavirus dominating the news agenda, is that a realistic message?

People want more information, not less, and complain (with some justification) that they don’t know whether to cancel holidays, send children to school, or travel on public transport. To prevent needless panic, a steady stream of well-informed public announcements are urgently required – something the government seems to shrink from. And if you’re forced to spend two weeks in isolation, would you spend it in silent contemplation?

Confusion still reigns. Health minister Matt Hancock opined he “wouldn’t go” to northern Italy, and now airlines are cancelling flights. What’s the official line? Former health minister Jeremy Hunt revealed on Radio 4 how the NHS is well prepared, because Boris Johnson seems to have imposed a ban on his current cabinet appearing on the Today programme, where a huge number of citizens get their news. Advertising telling us to wash our hands, and telling us to call 111 if we have returned from northern Italy or any of the hot zones and feel unwell is fine – but what about turning off filthy taps? And if face masks are useless, why are people wearing them? I’m not being flippant, I just want to know whether my holiday in Italy should be cancelled/postponed/activated.

The Pope himself seems to have succumbed to a respiratory infection after his Lent address on Ash Wednesday, in which he complained that “today people insult each other as if they were saying ‘good day’”. His underlying message could be summed up as “can we be nicer” – revealing that he grew up without a television and every year, his parents would consciously turn off the radio for Lent and study the Bible. In 2020, he’d like us to do the same.

Sadly, it’s unlikely, because smart phones provide the soundtrack to our lives – news, chat, advice and entertainment. In the same address, His Holiness advocates fasting as a way of achieving a simpler life. Another well-meant homily, but these days fasting has been seized on by people who can have an unhealthy attitude to food in the first place. Overzealous fasting can become a precursor to eating disorders and potentially mental health issues. Perhaps His Holiness should ask us to simply buy and cook what we planned to eat, and not waste anything – surely that’s the route to a simpler, more thoughtful lifestyle?

My problem with the current pope and his well-meaning, but somewhat anodyne messages is that the new bunch of fictional popes are so much more entertaining. Jude Law, John Malkovich, Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins – some fine actors have recently been cast as leaders of the world’s Catholics. The church’s struggle with corruption, abuse and celibacy (and between rival popes Francis and Benedict) is providing rich material for dramatists.

I’m hooked on series two of Paolo Sorrentino’s lavish and exuberant television series (series one entitled The Young Pope and series two The New Pope) currently airing on Sky Atlantic. Utterly disrespectful and playful, it asks important questions about the Vatican and double standards within the Catholic Church. Both Sharon Stone and Marilyn Manson make cameo appearances (as themselves), asking Pope John Paul II (John Malkovich) to allow homosexual Catholics to marry. Recently, Pope Francis ruled that (in spite of a shortage of clergy), priests in the Amazon would not be allowed to marry. Conservative values still prevail, in spite of promised change.

When Pope Francis rails against “the pollution of verbal violence”, he is on stronger ground. Last year, his Lent address asked us to stop gossiping. The year before he wanted us to slow down. Neither plea seems to have been very successful. But the current tone of debate and comment online seems to be poisonous. The death of the television presenter Caroline Flack should give pause for thought. How can tech companies realistically police online harassment and abuse, as Downing Street has requested? Surely, it’s up to each of us to take a step back and see what harm sneering throwaway comments can cause? We hold the answer to trolling, not big business.

Recently, the head of the National Farmers Union commented that the aggressive tactics being adopted by militant vegans is harming the mental health of farmer workers and their families. Joaquin Phoenix is the latest high profile face to join the campaign, holding a banner which read “Factory farming destroys our planet. Go vegan” at a demonstration in London. Young farmers complain they cannot have a debate about their methods online, claiming that declaring you are a farmer will only result in abuse and anxiety.

This is a one-sided debate, then, with famous faces spouting off a load of half-truths about farming, while the people actually doing the work and providing our food become too frightened to answer back for fear of reprisals.

Climate change is another area where debate has been reduced to a shouting match. Extinction Rebellion campaigners and the fans of Greta Thunberg disrupt our cities and dig up lawns at universities, as if they own the right to set the agenda, while anyone who drives a diesel car or books a holiday flight for their family is too scared to speak out and ask for moderation. Criticise cyclists at your peril – they are one step down from saints in their eyes.

Recently, a soldier was found dead in his barracks in North Yorkshire – he’d been there for three weeks. Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan was a father of three and had fought in Iraq. He’d been due to start an attachment at a military camp in Berkshire but nobody noticed he hadn’t arrived. It has been reported that Cpl Morrison had told those close to him he had been bullied because of his southern Irish accent. Reading this story I cried. In 2020, how can this happen? The army says the “wellbeing of soldiers is paramount” – but clearly something went terribly wrong.

The Pope’s plea to be “nicer” to each other might sound wet, but think about Lance Corporal Mongan and Caroline Flack.