Pope Francis said people need to put down their cell phones and communicate, particularly at the dinner table, according to the New York Post.
"When we're at the table, when we are speaking to others on our telephones, it's the start of war because there is no dialogue," the pontiff said during a speech Friday to a young crowd at a university in Rome.
The pope made the remarks during a 45-minute speech in which he also reprimanded politicians for a lack of dialogue, saying "where even before one [candidate] finishes talking, he is interrupted. Where there is no dialogue, there is violence. Wars start in your heart."
He added: "In the newspapers, we see this one insulting that one, that one says this about the other one."
Being a good listener is important, he said.
"There are many medicines against violence, but above all they come from the heart, knowing how to listen to what the other person thinks. If you think differently from me, let's talk."
Pope Francis could meet with President Donald Trump in May when Trump visits Italy for the G7 Summit. The pope criticized Trump over his plan to build a wall along the Mexican-U.S. border last year during the election, accusing him of not being a Christian.
"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian," the pontiff said last February.
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