Cell phones at church

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I think that’s the answer. It’s between them and God. Personally I agree with you. It’s a sacrement and one should be preparing for it. That’s my opinion. I also feel people can’t put down their phones…ever. It’s becoming plague-like. Again MY opinion.
 
@lightacandle

We have placard in all the entrances of the Church,which says you’re in God’s range, please switch off your cell phones
 
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The OP didn’t go to the house of the person who had their phone at confession and interrogate them either. Even if they make it a discussion it doesn’t change the nature of the question which is (technically) minding someone else’s business.
 
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Oh–to be so important as to need be in constant contact with the outside world at all times!
 
Dont always assume that someone is texting etc when on mobile phone. My local priest uses his for his prayers.
 
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SeriousQuestion said:
Even if they make it a discussion it doesn’t change the nature of the question which is (technically) minding someone else’s business
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Yeah, it does. If you raise an issue you’re inviting commentary. If you’re fiddling with your cell phone, you haven’t invited anyone else to weigh in.
 
Sorry if you’ve felt scandalized by my use of a smartphone while waiting for confession. Doubly sorry for the stroke you no doubt had seeing me use it as a missal during Mass, too, but that’s your problem not mine. Cell phones aren’t just phones anymore, and they’ve been so for over a decade already. Time to accept this new medium of information propagation or forever be angry at the world because, barring a tech apocalypse, it’s not going back to the way it was before.
 
No. I’m a grown man. You’re not getting my phone. I’m using it as a missal/devotional, I have the brightness turned down, it’s silent, and not distracting anyone save for the perpetually perturbed, who, let’s face it, would just find something else to be bothered by.
 
You do know that a lot of us have apps or documents or bookmarks of prayers, prayer books, examinations of conscience, virtual Bibles and missals, etc. on our cell phones? It’s likely they were praying or examining their conscience.

If you see my poking my phone in church, I am usually pulling up a prayer I have saved in my Memos…or pulling up the Kindle Cloud Reader that has my Manual of Indulgences with some prayers in it or my St. Bridget Prayers in it…or pulling up the USCCB website that has the daily readings and the entire Bible stored in it…or pulling up Catholic Culture which has the daily Saint collect prayer on it…you get the idea. I see many other people doing the same.

There might have also been a couple of people texting their rides or their family members “the line is really long, I will be 10 minutes late for our meet-up” which is certainly acceptable also if it’s brief.

How about you focus on your own self going to Confession, and not be judging others? Unless the person is dancing to loud Youtube videos and thus distracting you from prayer, it is not your business anyway.
 
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AlbertDerGrosse said:
No. I’m a grown man. You’re not getting my phone. I’m using it as a missal/devotional, I have the brightness turned down, it’s silent, and not distracting anyone save for the perpetually perturbed, who, let’s face it, would just find something else to be bothered by.
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1000+ likes.
I turn off the sound, I do not shine it in people’s eyes, and there are many people including some clergy using phones or tablets to read prayers nowadays.
Phone haters can just get over it.
 
Francis said:
We have placard in all the entrances of the Church,which says you’re in God’s range, please switch off your cell phones
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And by this, I assume “switch off the sound and don’t use them to chat with people”.

Not “don’t look up the daily readings on them, which incidentally aren’t contained in the church-provided missale”, and not “don’t look up any meditations for Holy Hour or any prayers either”.

It’s highly likely those signs date back to the days before smartphones, when the only thing you could do with your phone was call or text.
 
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lightacandle said:
A lot of quiet smiling going on while they were texting. I don’t think it had anything to do with examination of conscience but I could be wrong.
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Good grief, maybe you should take a cell phone, or at least a book, so you can quit looking at other people in the confession line trying to figure out what they are doing from their facial expression.

I’m sorry, but you sound like a creeper.

You’re in line for CONFESSION. Did you even bother to do your own examination of conscience while you were looking around?

If you had to look around, you were presumably in a church. Were there no statues or pictures of Jesus and Mary, no Stations of the Cross, no missals you could grab from a pew to read if the line was really long, no crucifix or pieta within view to meditate upon, that you had so much time to watch other people and then run over here and start some big thread about how awful their behavior was?

Seriously, check yourself.
 
yes your right! but some people do switch off their cell phones as a matter of priority to God,others keep it in silent mode,as you said go through the gospels or pray silently using their tabs or cell phones,as for the odd one’s, God have mercy on him or her, a single stare would do the trick,
 
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Or maybe the person is nervous about confession and tinkering with their phone is a nervous habit. There’s like a million possible reasons someone could be monkeying around on their phone in a long line.

Unless they’re playing a game with the sound on or something, it’s their business.
 
Like many here, I sometimes use my smartphone during Mass. Volume and notifications off, etc.

Why? I have an app from the Archdiocese for the Military Services that has the daily readings. This also includes the Sunday readings. At a crowded Mass, it’s oftentimes easier, and I do occasionally mention to those around me that what I have is an app with the readings. That way, if a 7 year old says “mom, that man shouldn’t be on his phone” I can say I am following the readings, and not spending time on Facebook. I do turn off the phone after the Gospel reading concludes.

I have some priests and deacons occasionally use their smartphone during the homily, particularly if they have made a few notes (i.e. like an outline) for reference.
 
Maybe this will sound judgmental to some, but I’ve found that the blinking light from a cell phone in my peripheral vision, whether it is coming from an adult reading or a child playing games, is distracting no matter how hard I try to ignore it. It doesn’t matter if I’m at church or in an audience somewhere else. Maybe my sensitive eyes are my cross to bear.
 
Or maybe people use them as their missal. It’s no one’s business what other people are doing at mass. If looking at other people at mass distracts you, sit in the front and keep your eyes down and maybe focus on God
 
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lightacandle said:
Why does it bother me? Because confession is a sacrament. And because everywhere I go everybody is glued to their phones. Restaurants, church, Walmart, driving. It’s become a disease in this country. It’s an addiction and it’s become an idol. I’m standing in the confession line trying to think and pray and get prepared for confession and people beside me are playing games on their phones. It’s annoying and I think inappropriate for the situation. But it’s between them and God.
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I agree with you. Our society has a cell phone problem, me included. But it is just a tool. It can be used for good or bad. Using a cell phone in line for confession could be a good or bad thing.
AndrewAxland said:
They are not using their cell phones during the sacrament. As for the rest, you really have to get a life.
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Some probably are, like me. I list my sins in a note on my phone. I also have the act of contrition because sometimes I get addled and forget the words. To me it is no different from a piece of paper I might otherwise use.
 
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