(Transcript from World News Radio)
Smart phone manufacturers may have the Pope to blame for a drop in sales, after the Pontiff told young Catholics not to waste their time on the devices.
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Pope Francis has told about 50-thousand German Catholics at a special gathering in Saint Peter's Square to get off the Net and back to Jesus.
Abby Dinham reports.
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The atmosphere at the Vatican was more like a music festival than Papal appearance.
The huge crowds arrived in the square in groups, many sporting matching hats and t-shirts and waving parish flags.
A young man who travelled from Germany said:
"I think it's really important that we young people think about the future of our church and I think the new pope is really approachable, he is someone who can change things and I think we can get through to him really well with events like this."
And the Pope didn't disappoint.
The Pontiff toured the square in his open-back jeep, greeting the crowd.
Pope Francis, who usually holds his speeches in Italian, sometimes also using Spanish, delighted the Germans by addressing them in their native language.
"God shows us that he is a good father. And how does he do it? He does it through the incarnation of his Son, who becomes like one of us. Through this concrete man named Jesus we can understand what God truly wants. He wants people who are free because they feel more secure as children of a good father."
The Pope showing he can still get a laugh with the young people as he sympathised with the difficulties they face in managing school, church and a social life.
"You need to organise your lives a little, plan things in a balanced way. But you are German, this comes naturally to you."
The Pope also advised the pilgrims to avoid time-wasting technology, despite having several of his own Twitter accounts - the English language account having well over 4-million followers.
"Maybe many young people waste too many hours on futile things, chatting on the Internet or with smart phones, watching TV soap operas, and (using) the products of technological progress, which should simplify and improve the quality of life, but which distract one's attention away from what is really important."
The Pope hailed the Internet earlier this year as a "gift from God".
But he also cautioned that high-speed world of digital social media needs calm reflection and tenderness if it is to be "a network not of wires, but of people".
