ROME (AP) 鈥� Pope Francis told Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday to stop speaking ill of one another, as he once again used his annual Christmas greetings to and gossiping among his closest collaborators.
A wheezing and congested sounding Francis, who just turned 88, urged the prelates instead to speak well of one another and undertake a humble examination of their own consciences in the Christmas holiday season.
鈥淎 church community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk in the life of humility, renouncing evil thinking and speaking ill of others,鈥� Francis said. 鈥淕ossip is an evil that destroys social life, sickens people鈥檚 hearts and leads to nothing. The people say it very well: Gossip is zero.鈥�
鈥淏eware of this,鈥� he added.
By now Francis鈥� annual address to the priests, bishops and cardinals who work in the Vatican Curia has become a lesson in humility -鈥� -- as Francis offers a public dressing down of some of the sins in the workplace at the headquarters of the Catholic Church.
In the most biting edition, in 2014, Francis listed the in which he accused the prelates of using their Vatican careers to grab power and wealth. He accused them of living 鈥渉ypocritical鈥� double lives and forgetting 鈥� due to 鈥渟piritual Alzheimer鈥檚鈥� 鈥� that they鈥檙e supposed to be joyful men of God.
In 2022, Francis warned them that the devil that lurks among them, saying it is an that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith.
This year, Francis revisited a theme he has often warned about: gossiping and speaking ill of people behind their backs. It was a reference to the in closed environments such as the Vatican or workplaces where office gossip and criticism circulate.
Francis has long welcomed frank and open debates and even has welcomed criticism of his own work. But he has urged critics to , and not behind his back.
The annual appointment kicks off Francis鈥� busy Christmas schedule, this year made even more strenuous because of the start of the on Christmas Eve.
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Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
