For the entire Lenten season until Holy Saturday, the Austrian faithful will be able to opt in to receive a daily text message with a reflection by Pope Francis. Those interested during the 40 days of Lent can register at any time by texting the keyword “Pope” to 0664/6606651. The service was set up thanks to an agreement between the Austrian Catholic Church and all mobile operators in Austria. “The Pope’s daily text messages clearly place a merciful God at the centre of the faith and inspire an active Christian life”, Paul Wuhte, press officer at the Bishops’ Conference, said, pointing out that the goal of the Lenten action is to “stop and focus on the essential”. “Pope Francis’ words indicate how to live the faith concretely”, Mr Wuthe said, referring to the citations selected. The campaign “Pope SMS” was first organised in Lent 2008 to mark Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic trip to Austria. It was proposed again during Lent 2011, and since then the initiative has become increasingly popular also thanks to the wide range of topics proposed. With the Pontificate of Pope Francis, which began precisely in Lent four years ago, the Austrian Church has confirmed and re-launched the project. The SMS sending is completely free of charge. The texts are chosen from among the Pope’s homilies at Santa Marta, his addresses and his “tweets” retweeted on Twitter.