‘Return to the essentials,’ Pope Francis urges Roman Curia

December 21, 2015

Pope Francis devoted one of the year’s most widely-anticipated papal addresses—the annual Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia—to a “return to the essentials.”

“In our meeting in 2013, I wanted to stress two important and inseparable aspects of the work of the Curia: professionalism and service, and I offered Saint Joseph as a model to be imitated,” he said at the beginning of his December 21 address, which took place in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “Then, last year, as a preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we spoke of certain temptations or ‘maladies’ – the ‘catalogue of curial diseases’ – which could affect any Christian, curia, community, congregation, parish or ecclesial movement.”

“Some of these diseases became evident in the course of the past year, causing no small pain to the entire body and harming many souls,” he continued, in an obvious reference to the leaking of confidential Vatican documents. “The reform will move forward with determination, clarity and firm resolve, since Ecclesia semper reformanda [the Church ought always to be reformed].”

The Pope, who was suffering from the flu, remained seated as he delivered his speech. He used medical analogies several times in the course of his address, suggesting that perhaps he should offer "antibiotics" to cure the "diseases" of life in the Curia.

The Pope also emphasized his gratitude for the Curia’s work. “Nonetheless, diseases and even scandals cannot obscure the efficiency of the services rendered to the Pope and to the entire Church by the Roman Curia, with great effort, responsibility, commitment and dedication, and this is a real source of consolation,” he said.

“It would be a grave injustice not to express heartfelt gratitude and needed encouragement to all those good and honest men and women in the Curia who work with dedication, devotion, fidelity and professionalism, offering to the Church and the Successor of Peter the assurance of their solidarity and obedience, as well as their constant prayers,” he added.

Turning to the theme of his 2015 address—a “return to the essentials”—Pope Francis reflected on an acrostic based on the word misericordia, the Latin word for mercy:

• Missionary and pastoral spirit
• Idoneity (suitability) and sagacity
• Spirituality and humanity
• Example and fidelity
• Rationality and gentleness
• Innocuousness and determination
• Charity and truth
• Honesty (the word begins with O in Italian) and maturity
• Respectfulness and humility
• Diligence and attentiveness
• Intrepidness and alertness
• Trustworthiness (the word begins with A in Italian) and sobriety

Pope Francis concluded with a “magnificent prayer, commonly attributed to Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero, but pronounced for the first time by Cardinal John Dearden” of Detroit. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the prayer was written by Bishop Kenneth Untener of Saginaw, Michigan, who died in 2004.

 

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Further information:

• Christmas greetings of the Roman Curia 2015.12.21 (YouTube Vatican)
• Udienza del Santo Padre alla Curia Romana in occasione della presentazione degli auguri natalizi, 21.12.2015 (Holy See Press Office)
• Pope tells Roman Curia to "return to the essentials" (Vatican Radio)
• Archbishop Oscar Romero Prayer: A Step Along The Way (USCCB)