Following the tragic shooting at a school in Zamboanga City, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle appealed to families to limit their mobile phone consumption and dedicate more meaningful time to one another.
Delivering his sermon during a Mass celebrated at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, the pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization encouraged households to foster deeper connections and maintain open channels of communication.
The prelate observed that even during meal times, family members often prioritize their digital devices over personal interaction:
“All of you — husband and wife and children — are looking at your cellphones instead of at one another.”
Directly addressing parents, Tagle stressed the importance of emotional connection, pleading for them to “please show children a heart that is humane.”
He added:
“AI has no heart, games have no heart. Only human beings have hearts.”
The cardinal’s remarks follow the August 18 incident at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School, where an eighth-grade student fatally shot a tenth-grade student before allegedly turning the gun on himself.
Law enforcement authorities continue to investigate the motivation behind the incident. Preliminary findings indicate that the weapon used belonged to the suspect’s father, an official with the Bureau of Customs.