Pope Francis gave up watching TV in July of 1990, according to information he revealed in an interview that he gave to an Argentinian news organization.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, 78, previously the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, began his papacy in March of 2013, after Pope Benedict XVI submitted his resignation as a result of health issues.
Although his views generally don’t fit neatly into any particular ideological category, Pope Francis enjoys worldwide rock-star popularity for his acts of compassion, open-mindedness, outreach efforts, willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, and for his modest personal lifestyle.
Earlier this month, a Pew Research study indicated that Pope Francis is increasingly popular in the U.S. and is nearing the approval levels enjoyed by Pope John Paul II. Some 90 percent of U.S. Catholics have a favorable view of Pope Francis, the survey suggested.
The pontiff has made it clear that he does not spend any time plopping down on the couch next to a bowl of chips and surfing with the TV remote, and as the New York Daily News quipped , “Pope Francis isn’t keeping up with the Kardashians or anything else on the small screen.”
“‘I have not watched TV since 1990. It’s a promise that I made the Virgin of Carmen on the night of 15 July 1990. I told myself: ‘It’s not for me’,” the Pope told the news outlet in Argentina, the Daily Mail reports .
Since he doesn’t tune in to what used to be colloquially called the boob tube or the one-eyed monster, Vatican staff keep the Pope updated on the matches played by his his favorite soccer team, the Buenos Aires-based San Lorenzo de Almagro.
“There is a Swiss Guard that every week tells me the results and how we are doing in the league table,” he added.
Pope Francis admitted that he doesn’t surf the web either, which is no surprise since earlier this year on a Google+ hangout he admitted that he doesn’t know how to use a computer and has previously expressed the opinion that people spend too much time with their electronic devices that diminish human relationships.
It’s not just electronic media that he avoids. The Pope noted that he allocates just 10 minutes a day to skim one local newspaper, La Repubblica , published in Rome.
Pope Francis “goes to bed at around 9 pm, reads for about an hour, and then sleeps from 10 pm until 4 am, when he gets up,” although he frequently takes a short nap during the day, the London Telegraph explained .
The Pope acknowledged that he also misses the ability to go out for a pizza in relative anonymity, an excursion which has become impractical for security and other reasons once he became leader of the Catholic Church.
Do you think Pope Francis is missing anything by not watching TV for the past 25 years?
[Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images News]