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Pope Francis, At Christmas Gathering, Blasts Vatican’s Bureaucrats


mangaloretoday.com/ AP

Vatican, Dec 23: Pope Francis blasted the Vatican’s top bureaucrats at an annual Christmas gathering, accusing the cardinals, bishops and priests who make up the Curia of "spiritual Alzheimer’s" and of lusting for power at all costs.

"Sometimes, [officials of the Curia] feel themselves lords of the manor — superior to everyone and everything," Francis told the Curia’s assembled members, according to Vatican Radio, which carried a report of the meeting titled "Pope Francis: Christmas greetings to Curia."

The Curia, the administrative body of the Roman Catholic Church, is dominated by Italians who oversee the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Francis, an Argentine, is the first non-European to hold the papacy in more than a millennium. The former Cardinal had not worked in the Curia before his election; he has made reform of the Vatican a major part of his agenda.

 

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"The Curia needs to change, to improve. ... A Curia that does not criticize itself, that does not bring itself up to date, that does not try to improve, is a sick body," he said.

Joshua McElwee of the National Catholic Reporter writes that the "pope’s list of diseases may show just how in need of reform the Vatican is."

John Allen, who covers the Vatican for the Boston Globe’s Crux, notes that Francis "has not shied from complaining about the gossiping, careerism, and bureaucratic power intrigues that afflict the Holy See. But as his reform agenda has gathered steam, he seemed even more emboldened to highlight what ails the institution."

The pope listed 15 "ailments" that afflict the Curia, including "spiritual Alzheimer’s," being boastful and the "terrorism of gossip."

The Associated Press notes that Francis’ speech was met with tepid applause, and "few were smiling as the Pope listed one-by-one the 15 ’Ailments of the Curia’ that he had drawn up, complete with footnotes and Biblical references."

 

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Here is an official list of the 15 ailments cited by Francis.

1) Feeling immortal, immune or indispensable. "A Curia that doesn’t criticize itself, that doesn’t update itself, that doesn’t seek to improve itself is a sick body."

2) Working too hard. "Rest for those who have done their work is necessary, good and should be taken seriously."

3) Becoming spiritually and mentally hardened. "It’s dangerous to lose that human sensibility that lets you cry with those who are crying, and celebrate those who are joyful."

4) Planning too much. "Preparing things well is necessary, but don’t fall into the temptation of trying to close or direct the freedom of the Holy Spirit, which is bigger and more generous than any human plan."

5) Working without coordination, like an orchestra that produces noise. "When the foot tells the hand, ’I don’t need you’ or the hand tells the head ’I’m in charge.’"

6) Having ’spiritual Alzheimer’s.’ "We see it in the people who have forgotten their encounter with the Lord ... in those who depend completely on their here and now, on their passions, whims and manias, in those who build walls around themselves and become enslaved to the idols that they have built with their own hands."

7) Being rivals or boastful. "When one’s appearance, the color of one’s vestments or honorific titles become the primary objective of life."

8) Suffering from ’existential schizophrenia.’ "It’s the sickness of those who live a double life, fruit of hypocrisy that is typical of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that academic degrees cannot fill. It’s a sickness that often affects those who, abandoning pastoral service, limit themselves to bureaucratic work, losing contact with reality and concrete people."

9) Committing the ’terrorism of gossip.’ "It’s the sickness of cowardly people who, not having the courage to speak directly, talk behind people’s backs."

10) Glorifying one’s bosses. "It’s the sickness of those who court their superiors, hoping for their benevolence. They are victims of careerism and opportunism, they honor people who aren’t God."

11) Being indifferent to others. "When, out of jealousy or cunning, one finds joy in seeing another fall rather than helping him up and encouraging him."

12)
Having a ’funereal face.’ "In reality, theatrical severity and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and insecurity. The apostle must be polite, serene, enthusiastic and happy and transmit joy wherever he goes."

13) Wanting more. "When the apostle tries to fill an existential emptiness in his heart by accumulating material goods, not because he needs them but because he’ll feel more secure."

14) Forming ’closed circles’ that seek to be stronger than the whole. "This sickness always starts with good intentions but as time goes by, it enslaves its members by becoming a cancer that threatens the harmony of the body and causes so much bad — scandals — especially to our younger brothers."

15) Seeking worldly profit and showing off. "It’s the sickness of those who insatiably try to multiply their powers and to do so are capable of calumny, defamation and discrediting others, even in newspapers and magazines, naturally to show themselves as being more capable than others."


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