VATICAN CITY
Bustle
LAUREN BARBATO
Pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas message on Monday, and it ended up being a lot less festive than expected. Instead of spreading some Christmas cheer, the pope harshly criticized Vatican bureaucracy. All Francis wants for Christmas is for everyone to stop gossiping — is that so much to ask for?
While addressing senior Vatican officials, which includes bishops and cardinals who serve the Holy See, Francis laid out their laundry list of sins — 15, to be exact. Some of the sins these Vatican officials have committed are the lust for power, feelings of superiority, and the “terrorism of gossip.” What a way to end the year.
Francis began by suggesting that the Vatican has been “exposed to sickness,” causing it to become an “ailing body” that has weakened the Catholic Church. The first sickness, the pontiff said, was “considering oneself ‘immortal’, ‘immune’ or ‘indispensable’.”
Francis continued:
A Curia that is not self-critical, that does not stay up-to-date, that does not seek to better itself, is an ailing body. … It is the sickness of the rich fool who thinks he will live for all eternity, and of those who transform themselves into masters and believe themselves superior to others, rather than at their service.
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