Pope’s Christmas gift to Roman Curia: a harsh diagnosis of careerism, self-interest

Pope Francis did not play Santa Claus today when he addressed the officials of the Roman Curia in their annual pre-Christmas get-together. Instead, he issued a blistering critique of “curial illnesses,” ranging from the “terrorism of gossip” to the search for worldly profit.

It was another sign that this pope is trying to change the culture inside the Vatican, and not simply reform its bureaucratic structures.

Here is the pope’s list of what he described as 15 of the most common illnesses and temptations that are found in the Roman Curia:

1. Feeling oneself as “immortal,” “immune” or even “indispensable,” a sense of superiority that results from a “pathology of power” and narcissism. To put things in perspective, the pope advised making visits to cemeteries to read the names of the once-powerful.

2. Working too hard, forgetting to take time for rest, reflection and spiritual revitalization.

3. Mental and spiritual petrification, causing one to lose touch with people and develop a “heart of stone.”

4. Excessive planning and an overly pragmatic approach to one’s mission, turning apostles into “accountants” and closing off the action of the Holy Spirit.

5. Poor coordination with colleagues, with the loss of a sense of communion and a team spirit.

6. “Spiritual Alzheimer’s,” in which the primary encounter with the Lord is forgotten and progressively replaced by obsession with one’s own projects. These are people, the pope said, who build walls around themselves with their own habits and activities.

7. Rivalry and arrogance, when humility gives way to selfish interests, and when honors and awards become a primary objective.

8. “Existential schizophrenia,” a hypocrisy that comes from spiritual emptiness and that often strikes those who leave pastoral service for strictly bureaucratic activities. The pope said these people proclaim severe truths to others but often lead hidden, dissolute lives.

9. The “terrorism of gossip,” an illness that begins perhaps with idle chatter and gradually takes over one’s personality, sometimes leading to the “cold-blooded murder” of the good name of colleagues. “This is the illness of cowards who lack the courage to speak directly, so they speak behind one’s back,” he said.

10. Deifying one’s boss, in the hope of gaining promotion or favor. These are wretched and selfish people thinking only of their own career advancement, the pope said, but they are often abetted by their superiors, who reward such flattery.

11. Indifference to others, often exhibited when information is kept for oneself rather than shared with colleagues, or when one takes joy in a colleague’s misfortune.

12. Long-faced, theatrical severity with others, who are deemed to be inferior in some way. The pope said such arrogance and pessimism have no place in the life of an apostle. “A heart full of God is a happy heart that radiates and infects with joy everyone around him,” he said.

13. The accumulation of material goods, which only slow down the journey to holiness.

14. The “closed circle” mentality, in which belonging to a select group is more important than service to the church and to Christ. The pope called this disease a type of cancer that can harm the church from within.

15. The search for worldly profit, in which positions of service to the church are used to obtain power and wealth. “This is the disease of people who seek insatiably to multiply powers and to that end are capable of vilifying, defaming and discrediting others, even in newspapers and magazines,” the pope said.

Ever since his election, Pope Francis has been asking officials of the Roman Curia to make a serious examination of conscience about their attitudes and practices. By raising these issues in such forceful terms today, he was telling them that he intends to follow through on his designs.

Report on U.S. nuns emphasizes 'gratitude,' reflects changes at Vatican

Today’s Vatican report on the investigation of U.S. women’s religious orders was largely positive in tone, in contrast to statements issued when the investigation began in 2009.

At that time, Cardinal Franc Rodé, who headed the Vatican congregation for religious orders, said the study was aimed at identifying “secular” and “feminist” attitudes that had infiltrated the nuns’ orders and helped cause a drastic decline in membership.

Today’s report didn’t go there. Instead, it delineated real challenges facing religious orders while thanking the sisters repeatedly for their service to the Gospel.

This balanced approach reflects a changing of the guard at the Vatican — but it’s a change that began under Pope Benedict. In 2011, Benedict named Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz to replace Cardinal Rodé. The Brazilian cardinal took over the investigation of women religious, but adopted a much more conciliatory approach.

I think today’s balanced report was pretty much a foregone conclusion, given Cardinal Braz de Aviz’s continued leadership at the Vatican’s congregation for religious orders, and given that Pope Francis clearly wants peace with U.S. sisters.

Yet there seems to be a “good cop, bad cop” dynamic that still lingers on at the Vatican. A separate Vatican investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest association of U.S. sisters, was carried out by the doctrinal congregation, and it has been far more critical. In 2012, the doctrinal congregation issued a “doctrinal assessment” and insisted on major changes in the LCWR to ensure that the organization aligns with Catholic teaching in areas like women’s ordination, homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia.

The tug of war over implementing those changes continues. Last year, in a rare display of divergent views at the Vatican’s highest levels, Cardinal Braz de Aviz criticized the way the LCWR review was conducted. That prompted a quick statement from the Vatican that tried to downplay any disagreement between Braz de Aviz and Cardinal Gerhard Muller, head of the doctrinal congregation.

Cardinal Muller has not let up, however. Several months ago, he rebuked the LCWR for adopting ideas that he said lead to “fundamental errors” about “the omnipotence of God, the incarnation of Christ, the reality of original sin, the necessity of salvation and the definitive nature of the salvific action of Christ.”

The LCWR is working with Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who was appointed in 2012 to implement the doctrinal assessment. After meeting with the archbishop last August, the LCWR issued a statement that said in part: “We will continue in the conversation with Archbishop Sartain as an expression of hope that new ways may be created within the church for healthy discussion of differences.”

At America magazine, Sister Mary Ann Walsh has a good take on today’s report.

Vatican asks for pre-synod consultations that avoid strictly 'doctrinal' approach

It looks like Synod 2015 may be as interesting as Synod 2014.

A Vatican preparatory document for next year’s second session of the Synod of Bishops on the family is seeking wide input from the faithful, posing 46 questions and asking that bishops conferences do not answer them with strictly “doctrinal” formulations.

The document, released Dec. 9 at the Vatican, said the pre-synod consultation should involve every level of the church, including academic institutions, lay movements and other associations.

UPDATE: English version now available here.

It said that in preparing for the second synodal session, bishops should remember that Pope Francis has called for a pastoral approach that reflects the “culture of encounter” and goes outside the church’s usual environment, in order to act as a “field hospital” of mercy.

The questions touch on a number of controversial issues discussed during the synod’s first meeting last October, including sacraments for divorced and remarried Catholics, church teaching on homosexuality and birth control.

The document explicitly asked bishops to show “proper realism” in seeking answers to the questions, avoiding an approach that “is merely one of applying doctrine, and that does not respect the conclusions of the extraordinary synodal assembly, and would lead their reflection away from the path that has already been traced.”