If you're appy and you know it, say five Hail Marys – cyber-Pope

Pope Francis is pushing young Catholics to put down their phones in order to find peace of mind.

Speaking at an event in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, the pontiff told a crowd of around 100,000 people that happiness can not be found with their smartphones.

"[Happiness is] not an app that you can download on your phones, nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love," the pope was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

The comments are something of a departure for Pope Francis, who has been known to be far more tech-friendly than his papal predecessors. The pope keeps Twitter and Instagram profiles and has been known to pause for selfies with crowds of worshippers.

This, combined with a relatively progressive view on social affairs, has given Pope Francis a particularly strong reputation among the millennials and teens who were the primary target of his Sunday message warning against seeking happiness in a mobile phone or social network.

This isn't the first time Francis has heaped scorn on fondleslabs. Last year in a November sermon, he told families to make time at dinner to put away their phones and have actual, face-to-face conversations with one another.

Despite his recent stance against getting too heavily invested in technology, Francis has managed to build for himself a repertoire with the consumer tech world and its high-profile executives. Recently, the pope met with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, then entertained Apple boss Tim Cook at the Vatican. ®