This was Francis' message to the 49th World Day of Communications, entitled 'Communicating the family: a privileged place of encounter with the gift of love".
Speaking through Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, he said:"It is well-known that one of the great risks is that children or teenagers may isolate themselves in a 'virtual world', significantly reducing their necessary integration in real everyday life and in the interrelationships of friendship.
"This is not to say that the relationships of affection or friendship that develop in the context of the web are not real. It must also be remembered that the young, and the not so young, are called upon to give witness to Christ in the digital world too, in the social networks we all inhabit".
The pontiff has also warned his new cardinals to keep the partying to a minimum, and keep their egos in check, when they are formally elevated at a Vatican ceremony next month.
In a letter written to the 20 new princes of the church published Friday in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Francis warned the cardinals to avoid the type of ostentatious festivities that "stun worse than grappa on an empty stomach."
Traditionally, new cardinals are feted with lavish parties, often funded by well-meaning parishioners, in Rome after the ceremony where they receive their red hats.
Some of the new cardinals who will be installed Feb. 14 hail from countries that have never before had a cardinal, including Cape Verde, Myanmar and Tonga.
