Monasteries and nunneries have long been oases of quiet contemplation in a world overrun by distractions. But these days, many of those who have chosen the cloistered life are almost as tethered to their cellphones as the rest of us. That’s what I’ve found during my visits to monasteries over the past decade, from Italy to Nepal.
Take, for example, a moonless night last year on Maundy Thursday at the monastery of St. Lazarus of the Armenians in Venice. I watched as the Rev. Serop Jamourlian and three visitors tried to put a name to the bright, unblinking dot that sat in the sky atop the island city. I instinctively whipped out my mobile phone and aimed it upward. “It’s Jupiter,” I called out.
Mr. Jamourlian, who had been initiated into astronomy with 19th-century Bardou telescopes as a seminarian, immediately downloaded the app I was using. An image of the planet, trapped between the horns of the constellation Taurus, displayed on the screen, reawakening his youthful passion.
Why We Wrote This
Monasteries and nunneries worldwide have embraced the digital era to advance their missions. They use social media to get their messages out, attract new followers to their faiths, and stoke interest in religious vocations.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling. “This made my day.”
Mr. Jamourlian slipped the phone back into his pocket, and then walked back to the monastery to lock it for the night. The lights of Venice flickered in the distance, echoing the stars.
Monasteries worldwide have embraced mobile technology to advance their missions. In addition to using apps to learn new things and keep connected to the wider world, monks and nuns employ social media to get their messages out, attract new followers to their respective faiths, and stoke interest in religious vocations.
During this digital era, however, the numbers of men and women signing up to be monks and nuns are declining, especially in Europe. Some religious leaders put the blame on mobile devices that can lead young people to choose more materialistic pursuits.
Elder Parthenios Agiopavlitis, the abbot of the Monastery of St. Paul on the Greek peninsula of Mount Athos, has lamented the distractions caused by mobile phones among young Greek Orthodox monks. “They would stay up all night on their phones, which disrupts their focus on prayer and distances them from the core purpose in monastic life – communion with God,” he said, according to Basilica, the news agency of the Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Bhutan, an isolated Himalayan kingdom, was a relative latecomer to the internet when the king first permitted its use in 1999. For some sisters, nunneries became a gateway to the world through the internet. Ani Sherab Lhamo discovered the internet and cellphones only after becoming a novice. Today, she uses WhatsApp daily.
The approach to technology at Karma Drubdey, a nunnery in Bhutan, is guided by pragmatism. Its head nun, Ani Chophal Palmo, is a regular user of WhatsApp and Facebook, relying on her devices to help manage the sprawling complex, raise money, make announcements, and conduct other outreach to pilgrims.
All nuns and novices there above age 18 are allowed to have a cellphone, while those who are younger can use them on weekends.
“The Buddha’s teaching started more than 2,500 years ago,” Ani Chophal told me. “We cannot stay there. We have to move with the times.”
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