ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV urged Vatican cardinals on Monday to put aside their ambitions for power and personal interests, as he followed in the footsteps of Pope Francis and used a Christmas greeting to gently criticize his closest collaborators.
“Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia?” Leo asked the cardinals and bishops who make up the Curia, how the bureaucracy of the Holy See is known. “Having genuine brotherly friendships?”
The fact that Leo asked the question suggests that the American Pope knows well that the Curia remains a difficult and sometimes toxic workplace, one that Francis would often eviscerate in his annual Christmas addresses.
Leo did not repeat the more biting criticism of Francis — that the Vatican clergy sometimes suffer from “spiritual Alzheimer’s”, the “cancer” of the cliques, the “corruption” of ambition and idle gossip “self-absorbed” — and his tone was much kinder and constructive.
But the underlying message remained. Leo, who was very close to Francis and worked in the Vatican for two years before his election, did not shy away from Francis’ tradition of using the occasion of Christmas to encourage Vatican bureaucrats to examine their conscience and change their ways for the good of the church.
“Sometimes this bitterness finds itself among us too, when after many years of service in the Curia, we observe with disappointment that certain dynamics — linked to the exercise of power, the desire to win, or the pursuit of personal interests — keep changing,” said Leo.
“In the face of daily suffering, it is a grace to find trustworthy friends, where the masks come down, no one is used or rejected, genuine support is offered, and the value and competence of each person is respected, to prevent resentment and dissatisfaction.”
After Francis’ sometimes tumultuous 12-year pontificate, in which the Argentine Jesuit at times alienated conservatives and some in the Vatican bureaucracy, Leo has generally sought to be more peaceful and prize unity.
On Monday he called for Vatican bureaucrats to work to forge communion within the church and beyond.
“In a world wounded by discord, violence and conflict, where we also witness a growth in aggression and anger, often exploited both by the digital sphere and by politics, Christmas invites everyone to work for peace and universal fraternity,” he said.
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