Tagle wants youth exposed to games that teach good values

Manila, Philippines - Instead of violent-themed video and computer games, a high-ranking Catholic Church official yesterday said the youth should be exposed to recreation that promotes the teachings of Christ.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, one of the keynote speakers at the 1st Catholic Social Media Summit in Marikina City over the weekend, cited the Eight Beatitudes in the Bible.

He said he would like to see games that would teach young people good values taught in the Eight Beatitudes, such as “if you feed more people who are hungry, you would have higher scores; if you give more water to those who are thirsty, you would have higher scores; if you visit more people in prison, you would have higher scores.”

“How come no one is interested to come up with these kinds of games? Our games cater to what is raw, what is primitive,” he added.

“Many of the computer games have violence. It seemed that they would improve if they kill more people. If you killed more people (than your opponent) then you would be declared the winner. This might not be a game, this might already be in their minds that the more people I step on would make them more successful,” he said.

With the event’s theme “Ministering Grace to this Generation,” Tagle talked about “Social Media Spirituality” (Godtiquette vs Netiquette).

During his one-hour lecture, he reminded the audience, mostly young Catholics, not to perceive social media as an “enemy” of the Church. “There is much good in it. It is one of the signs of the times, give hope for the opportunity of mission.”

Filipino Catholics could use social networking as a tool to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and turn it into “an instrument of evangelization.”

But he admitted that social networking is also a “field that needs to be evangelized so that it could be used to evangelize other people.”

“When you text someone or use the Internet, do you use these gadgets as a follower of Christ? Do you use them so that the person would feel the spirit of the Holy Spirit? Did that enter your mind? No,” he said.

He said there are many aspects in life’s discipleship that are often set aside.