(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis issued his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia on
Saturday. In his message, the Pope expressed the three hallmarks of a Curial official:
professionalism, service and holiness of life. He urged the Curia to be "conscientious
objectors to gossip" and expressed his gratitude for the dedicated service of the
retiring members of the Curia.
Read his full message below:
Your
Eminences, Dear Brother Bishops and Priests, Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Once
again the Lord has enabled us to journey through Advent, and all too quickly we have
come to these final days before Christmas. They are days marked by a unique spiritual
climate made up of emotions, memories and signs, both liturgical and otherwise, such
as the crèche. It is in this climate that this traditional meeting takes place with
you, the superiors and officials of the Roman Curia, who cooperate daily in the service
of the Church. I greet all of you with affection. Allow me to extend a special greeting
to Archbishop Pietro Parolin, who recently began his service as Secretary of State,
and who needs our prayers!
While our hearts are full of gratitude to God,
who so loved us that he gave us his only-begotten Son, it is also good to make room
for gratitude to one another. In this, my first Christmas as the Bishop of Rome, I
also feel the need to offer sincere thanks to all of you as a community of service,
and to each of you individually. I thank you for the work which you do each day: for
the care, diligence and creativity which you display; and for your effort – I know
it is not always easy – to work together in the office, both to listen to and to challenge
one another, and to bring out the best in all your different personalities and gifts,
in a spirit of mutual respect.
In a particular way, I want to express my gratitude
to those now concluding their service and approaching retirement. As priests and bishops,
we know full well that we never really retire, but we do leave the office, and rightly
so, not least to devote ourselves more fully to prayer and the care of souls, starting
with our own! So a very special and heartfelt “thank you” goes to those of you who
have worked here for so many years with immense dedication, hidden from the eyes of
the world. This is something truly admirable. I have such high regard for these “Monsignori”
who are cut from the same mould as the curiales of olden times, exemplary persons.
We need them today, too! People who work with competence, precision and self-sacrifice
in the fulfilment of their daily duties. Here I would like to mention some of them
by name, as a way of expressing my esteem and my gratitude, but we know that, in any
list, the first names people notice are the ones that are missing! Besides, I would
also risk overlooking someone and thus committing an injustice and a lack of charity.
But I want to say to these brothers of ours that they offer a very important witness
in the Church’s journey through history.
This mould and this witness make
me think of two hallmarks of the curial official, and even more of curial superiors,
which I would like to emphasize: professionalism and service.
Professionalism,
by which I mean competence, study, keeping abreast of things. This is a basic requisite
for working in the Curia. Naturally, professionalism is something which develops and
is in part acquired; but I think that, precisely for it to develop and to be acquired,
there has to be a good foundation from the outset.
The second hallmark is
service: service to the Pope and to the bishops, to the universal Church and to the
particular Churches. In the Roman Curia, one learns – in a real way, “one breathes
in” – this twofold aspect of the Church, this interplay of the universal and the particular.
I think that this is one of the finest experiences of those who live and work in Rome:
“to sense” the Church in this way. When professionalism is lacking, there is a slow
drift downwards towards mediocrity.
Dossiers become full of trite and lifeless
information and incapable of opening up lofty perspectives. Then, too, when the attitude
is no longer one of service to the particular Churches and their bishops, the structure
of the Curia turns into a ponderous, bureaucratic customs house, constantly inspecting
and questioning, hindering the working of the Holy Spirit and the growth of God’s
people.
To these two qualities of professionalism and service, I would also
like to add a third, which is holiness of life. We know very well that, in the hierarchy
of values, this is the most important. Indeed, it is basic for the quality of
our work, our service. And I want to say here that in the Roman Curia, there have
been and there are saints; I have said this in public more than once, to thank the
Lord. Holiness means a life immersed in the Spirit, a heart open to God, constant
prayer, deep humility and fraternal charity in our relationships with our fellow workers.
It also means apostleship, discreet and faithful pastoral service, zealously carried
out in direct contact with God’s people. For priests, this is indispensable.
Holiness
in the Curia also means conscientious objection to gossip! We rightfully insist on
the importance of conscientious objection but perhaps we, too, need to exercise it
as a means of defending ourselves from an unwritten law of our surroundings, which
unfortunately is that of gossip. So let us all be conscientious objectors; and mind
you, I am not simply preaching! Gossip is harmful to people, our work and our surroundings.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us feel close to one another on this final
stretch of the road to Bethlehem. We would do well to meditate on Saint Joseph, who
was so silent yet so necessary at the side of Our Lady. Let us think about him and
his loving concern for his Spouse and for the Baby Jesus. This can tell us a lot about
our own service to the Church! So let us experience this Christmas in spiritual closeness
to Saint Joseph.
I thank you most heartily for your work and especially for
your prayers. Truly I feel “borne aloft” by your prayers and I ask you to continue
to support me in this way. I, too, remember you before the Lord, and I impart my blessing
as I offer my best wishes for a Christmas filled with light and peace for each of
you and for all your dear ones. Happy Christmas!