Pope Francis told Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday to stop talking ill of each other, as he again used his annual Christmas greetings to admit the backstabbing and wrestling among his closest colleagues.
A wheezed and congested Francis, who had just turned 88, urged the prelates instead to speak well to each other and humbly examine their own consciences in the Christmas holidays.
“A church community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk in a life of humility, rejecting bad thinking and speaking ill of others,” said Francis. Gossip is an evil that destroys social life, makes people's hearts sick and leads to nothing. The people say it well: Gossip is zero.”
“Take care of this,” he said.
Francis' annual Christmas address to the priests, bishops and cardinals who serve in the Vatican Curia has now become a lesson in humility – and humility – as Francis offers a public display of some sins in the workplace at the main offices of the Great Barn. Catholic Church.
Andrew Medichini / AP
In the most serious edition, in 2014, Francis listed the “15 ailments of the Curia,” in which he accused the prelates of using their positions in the Vatican to seize power and wealth. He accused them of living a “hypocritical” double life and that he forgot – because of “spiritual Alzheimer's” – that they are supposed to be joyful people with God.
In 2022, Francis warned them that the devil is lying among them, saying that he is a “cute devil” who works in people who have a tougher, holier-than-thou way of to keep the Catholic faith alive.
This year, Francis revisited a topic he has often warned about: moaning and talking sickly of people behind their backs. It was a reference to the sometimes toxic atmosphere in closed environments such as the Vatican or workplaces where office moves and criticism circulate but are rarely aired publicly.
Francis has long welcomed open and frank debates and has even welcomed criticism of his own work. But he has urged critics to tell him to his face, and not behind his back.
Francis opened his speech on Saturday with a reminder of the the destruction of the war in Gazawhere he said that even the patriarch was unable to enter because of Israeli bombing.
“Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” he said.
The annual appointment kicks off Francis' busy Christmas schedule, made even tougher by the start of the Vatican's Holy Year on Christmas Eve. The Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome over 2025, and Francis has a calendar of grueling events to minister to.
Andrew Medichini / AP
After addressing the Vatican prelates, Francis issued a less urgent speech to the Vatican's lay staff who gathered in the city's main state audience hall along with their families. Francis thanked them for their service and urged them to make sure they take time to play with their children and visit their grandparents.
“If you have any specific problems, tell your bosses, we want to solve them,” he said at the end. “You do this by talking, not by being silent. Together we will try to solve the problems.”
He appeared to be referring to reports of growing discontent within the Vatican workforce which had been reported by the Vatican Lay Workers Association, the most the closest the Vatican has to a labor union. In recent months the association has expressed alarm over the health of the Vatican pension system and fears of even greater cuts, and has asked the Vatican leadership to listen to the concerns of employees.
Earlier this year 49 employees of the Vatican Museums – the Holy See's main source of income – filed a class action lawsuit in the Vatican tribunal that ' complain about labor shortages, overtime and working conditions.
Unlike Italy, which has strong labor laws protecting workers' rights, Vatican workers often find that there are fewer legal recourses when problems arise. crop Italian Catholics often seek employment in the Vatican, however: In addition to the sense of service to the church, Vatican employment offers tax-free benefits and access to below-market housing.
