VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 228   
   DATE 22-12-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - Francis: a Curia that is outdated, sclerotic or indifferent to others is an   
   ailing body   
   - To employees of the Holy See: "Transform this Holy Nativity into an   
   opportunity to heal"   
   - Angelus: at Christmas, Jesus calls out again to the heart of every Christian   
   - The Pope receives the Community of Pope John XXIII and praises its   
   generosity in helping people rise above material and moral degradation   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis: a Curia that is outdated, sclerotic or indifferent to others is an   
   ailing body   
    Vatican City, 22 December 2014 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall   
   the Holy Father held his annual meeting with the Roman Curia to exchange   
   Christmas greetings with the members of its component dicasteries, councils,   
   offices, tribunals and commissions. "It is good to think of the Roman Curia as   
   a small model of the Church, that is, a body that seeks, seriously and on a   
   daily basis, to be more alive, healthier, more harmonious and more united in   
   itself and with Christ".   
    "The Curia is always required to better itself and to grow in communion,   
   sanctity and wisdom to fully accomplish its mission. However, like any body,   
   it is exposed to sickness, malfunction and infirmity. ... I would like to   
   mention some of these illnesses that we encounter most frequently in our life   
   in the Curia. They are illnesses and temptations that weaken our service to   
   the Lord", continued the Pontiff, who after inviting all those present to an   
   examination of conscience to prepare themselves for Christmas, listed the most   
   common Curial ailments:   
    The first is "the sickness of considering oneself 'immortal', 'immune' or   
   'indispensable', neglecting the necessary and habitual controls. 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".   
    The second is "'Martha-ism', or excessive industriousness; the sickness of   
   those who immerse themselves in work, inevitably neglecting 'the better part'   
   of sitting at Jesus' feet. Therefore, Jesus required his disciples to rest a   
   little, as neglecting the necessary rest leads to stress and agitation. Rest,   
   once one who has brought his or her mission to a close, is a necessary duty   
   and must be taken seriously: in spending a little time with relatives and   
   respecting the holidays as a time for spiritual and physical replenishment, it   
   is necessary to learn the teaching of Ecclesiastes, that 'there is a time for   
   everything'".   
    Then there is "the sickness of mental and spiritual hardening: that of those   
   who, along the way, lose their inner serenity, vivacity and boldness and   
   conceal themselves behind paper, becoming working machines rather than men of   
   God. ... It is dangerous to lose the human sensibility necessary to be able to   
   weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice! It is the   
   sickness of those who lose those sentiments that were present in Jesus Christ".   
    "The ailment of excessive planning and functionalism: this is when the   
   apostle plans everything in detail and believes that, by perfect planning   
   things effectively progress, thus becoming a sort of accountant. ... One falls   
   prey to this sickness because it is easier and more convenient to settle into   
   static and unchanging positions. Indeed, the Church shows herself to be   
   faithful to the Holy Spirit to the extent that she does not seek to regulate   
   or domesticate it. The Spirit is freshness, imagination and innovation".   
    The "sickness of poor coordination develops when the communion between   
   members is lost, and the body loses its harmonious functionality and its   
   temperance, becoming an orchestra of cacophony because the members do not   
   collaborate and do not work with a spirit of communion or as a team".   
    "Spiritual Alzheimer's disease, or rather forgetfulness of the history of   
   Salvation, of the personal history with the Lord, of the 'first love': this is   
   a progressive decline of spiritual faculties, that over a period of time   
   causes serious handicaps, making one incapable of carrying out certain   
   activities autonomously, living in a state of absolute dependence on one's own   
   often imaginary views. We see this is those who have lost their recollection   
   of their encounter with the Lord ... in those who build walls around   
   themselves and who increasingly transform into slaves to the idols they have   
   sculpted with their own hands".   
    "The ailment of rivalry and vainglory: when appearances, the colour of one's   
   robes, insignia and honours become the most important aim in life. ... It is   
   the disorder that leads us to become false men and women, living a false   
   'mysticism' and a false 'quietism'".   
    Then there is "existential schizophrenia: the sickness of those who live a   
   double life, fruit of the hypocrisy typical of the mediocre and the   
   progressive spiritual emptiness that cannot be filled by degrees or academic   
   honours. This ailment particularly afflicts those who, abandoning pastoral   
   service, limit themselves to bureaucratic matters, thus losing contact with   
   reality and with real people. They create a parallel world of their own, where   
   they set aside everything they teach with severity to others and live a   
   hidden, often dissolute life".   
    The sickness of "chatter, grumbling and gossip: this is a serious illness   
   that begins simply, often just in the form of having a chat, and takes people   
   over, turning them into sowers of discord, like Satan, and in many cases   
   cold-blooded murderers of the reputations of their colleagues and brethren. It   
   is the sickness of the cowardly who, not having the courage to speak directly   
   to the people involved, instead speak behind their backs".   
    "The sickness of deifying leaders is typical of those who court their   
   superiors, with the hope of receiving their benevolence. They are victims of   
   careerism and opportunism, honouring people rather than God. They are people   
   who experience service thinking only of what they might obtain and not of what   
   they should give. They are mean, unhappy and inspired only by their fatal   
   selfishness".   
    "The disease of indifference towards others arises when each person thinks   
   only of himself, and loses the sincerity and warmth of personal relationships.   
   When the most expert does not put his knowledge to the service of less expert   
   colleagues; when out of jealousy ... one experiences joy in seeing another   
   person instead of lifting him up or encouraging him".   
    "The illness of the funereal face: or rather, that of the gruff and the grim,   
   those who believe that in order to be serious it is necessary to paint their   
   faces with melancholy and severity, and to treat others - especially those   
   they consider inferior - with rigidity, hardness and arrogance. In reality,   
   theatrical severity and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and   
   insecurity".   
    "The disease of accumulation: when the apostle seeks to fill an existential   
   emptiness of the heart by accumulating material goods, not out of necessity   
   but simply to feel secure. ... Accumulation only burdens and inexorably slows   
   down our progress".   
    "The ailment of closed circles: when belonging to a group becomes stronger   
   than belonging to the Body and, in some situations, to Christ Himself. This   
   sickness too may start from good intentions but, as time passes, enslaves   
   members and becomes a 'cancer' that threatens the harmony of the Body and   
   causes a great deal of harm - scandals - especially to our littlest brothers".   
    Then, there is the "disease of worldly profit and exhibitionism: when the   
   apostle transforms his service into power, and his power into goods to obtain   
   worldly profits or more power. This is the disease of those who seek   
   insatiably to multiply their power and are therefore capable of slandering,   
   defaming and discrediting others, even in newspapers and magazines, naturally   
   in order to brag and to show they are more capable than others".   
    After listing these ailments, Pope Francis continued, "We are therefore   
   required, at this Christmas time and in all the time of our service and our   
   existence - to live 'speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every   
   way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined   
   and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is   
   working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love'".   
    "I once read that priests are like aeroplanes: they only make the news when   
   they crash, but there are many that fly. Many criticise them and few pray for   
   them", he concluded. "It is a very nice phrase, but also very true, as it   
   expresses the importance and the delicacy of our priestly service, and how   
   much harm just one priest who falls may cause to the whole body of the Church".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To employees of the Holy See: "Transform this Holy Nativity into an   
   opportunity to heal"   
    Vatican City, 22 December 2014 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis met with   
   employees of the Holy See, whom he thanked fervently for their work during the   
   last year. He dedicated some special words to the Italians present, as "during   
   all the history of the Church and the Roman Curia they have worked regularly   
   with a generous and faithful spirit, placing at the service of the Holy See   
   and Peter's Successor their unique laboriousness and filial devotion, offering   
   the Church great Saints, Popes, martyrs, missionaries and artists that no   
   passing cloud in history will be able to obscure". He also thanked workers   
   from other countries, "who generously work in the Curia, far from their   
   homelands and their families, representing for the Curia the face of the   
   Church's 'Catholicity'".   
    The Pope encouraged those present to consider a text that he had mentioned in   
   his discourse to the Roman Curia shortly beforehand, treating it as a   
   "starting point for a fruitful examination of conscience in preparation for   
   the Holy Nativity and the New Year. He exhorted them to receive the Sacrament   
   of Confession "with a docile heart, to receive the mercy of the Lord, who   
   knocks on the door of our heart, in the joy of the family".   
    Francis emphasised the word "care" and explained that "caring means   
   manifesting diligent and thoughtful interest, that directs our heart and our   
   activities towards someone or something; it means looking with attention to   
   those who are in need of care without thinking of anything else; it means   
   accepting to give or receive care". To "transform this Holy Nativity into a   
   true opportunity to heal every wound and every lack", he urged those present   
   to take care of their spiritual life, their relationship with God, and to look   
   after their family life and relationships with others. This means caring about   
   one's way of speaking, purifying language of offensive words; healing the   
   wounds of the heart with the oil of forgiveness; caring for one's work,   
   performing it with enthusiasm, humility and passion; curing oneself of envy,   
   lust, hatred and the negative feelings that devour our inner peace and   
   transform us into destroyed and destructive people; curing oneself of the   
   rancour that leads us to revenge and the idleness that leads to existential   
   euthanasia. Caring for the poorest, the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the   
   homeless and foreigners, and making sure that the Holy Nativity never becomes   
   a celebration of commercial consumerism, appearances and pointless gifts, or   
   superfluous waste, but rather of the joy of welcoming the Lord into the creche   
   of the heart".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)