December 30, 2014
Christianity
In a stunning critique of the Curia, the central administration of the Holy See which governs the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church, the pontiff denounced how some within the church leadership lust for power at all costs, live hypocritical double lives and suffer from “spiritual Alzheimer’s” that has made them forget they’re supposed to be joyful men of God.
Utilizing his annual Christmas greeting to the cardinals, bishops and priests who run the Holy See, Francis skipped joyful exchanges of holiday cheer and instead dished out a wake up call to those within the Curia who need to atone and establish a new beginning in the New Year.
The pope spared absolutely no one, speaking boldly of how the “terrorism of gossip” can “kill the reputation of our colleagues and brothers in cold blood;” Of how cliques can “enslave their members and become a cancer that threatens the harmony of the body” and eventually kill it by “friendly fire;” How those living hypocritical double lives are “typical of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that no academic degree can fill.” Ouch!
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“The Curia is called on to always improve itself and grow in communion, holiness and knowledge to fulfill its mission,” Francis said. “But even it, as any human body, can suffer from ailments, dysfunctions, illnesses.”
Francis is the first Latin American pope and he never worked in the Italian-dominated Curia before his election. So it was no surprise that he had no patience for the outdated traditions of power among the church leadership and was not at all shy to call out those members of the Curia for their political pettiness. Needless to say, the cardinals were not amused. Few were smiling as the fully prepared pontiff ticked off one by one of the 15 “Ailments of the Curia” that he had drawn up, complete with footnotes and Biblical references.
Christianity
Francis rattled off a veritable laundry list of wrongs by the Curia, starting with the “ailment of feeling immortal, immune or even indispensable.” He then went one-by-one into specifics: Being vain. Wanting to accumulate things. Having a “hardened heart.” Wooing superiors for personal gain. Having a “funereal face” and being too “rigid, tough and arrogant,” especially toward underlings.
At the end of his speech, Francis asked the prelates to pray that the “wounds of the sins that each one of us carries are healed” and that the Church and Curia itself are made healthy. His scolding words were met with tepid applause and the attendees left with scowling faces at the realization that their enormous power within the church was rapidly dwindling.
Pope Francis has been a trailblazer for being accepting and loving towards gays, for ministering to the needy and for discarding years of tradition in exchange for doing God’s work. As the old saying goes: “There’s a new sheriff in town.” Kudos to Pope Francis for taking that saying and running with it and for showing an outdated church Curia that if they don’t make a change, it will be his way or the highway!
