In his continued catechesis on the Ten Commandments at the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis warns against the temptation to idolatry present in modern society, saying the true God teaches us to love.

“I am the Lord, your God… You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3).

Pope Francis reflected on the first Commandment in his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, saying idolatry is a very real and current temptation.

“The commandment prohibits the making of idols or images of any sort. We are talking about a human tendency, which spares neither believers nor atheists.”

Modern idolatry

The Pope, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2113), said idolatry “consists in divinizing what is not God.” He invited Christians to ask ourselves:

“What is really my God? Is it the One and Triune Love, or is it my own image, my personal success, even within the Church?”

Pope Francis said an idol is a “vision” that tends to become an obsession. “An idol is really a projection of the self onto an object or a project.”

He said advertising uses this dynamic to turn a car or a smartphone into “a way to respond to my existential needs” and to be happy.