VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 228
DATE 21-12-2015

Summary:
- The Pope greets the Roman Curia: return to the essentials
- The Pope receives Vatican employees: live the Jubilee in the domestic church
too
- Christmas: encounter Jesus in places of wonder
- The path to ending violence in the Middle East
- Francis praises the Italian Rail service for its solidarity with the poor
- The Pope opens the Holy Door of Charity and repeats that Heaven cannot be
bought with money or honours
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 The Pope greets the Roman Curia: return to the essentials
 Vatican City, 21 December 2015 (VIS) - Missionary and pastoral spirit,
idoneity
and sagacity, spirituality and humanity, example and fidelity, reasonableness
and gentleness, innocuousness and determination, diligence and attentiveness,
charity and truth, openness and maturity, respectfulness and humility,
intrepidness and alertness, and finally, accountability and sobriety. These are
the qualities Pope Francis highlighted this morning in his greetings to the
Roman Curia, as a practical aid to embracing the time of grace of Christmas and
the Year of Mercy and ensuring the fruitfulness of service to the Church. "I
would ask the Heads of Dicasteries and other superiors to ponder this, to add
to
it and to complete it", he said. "It is a list based on an acrostic analysis of
the word 'Misericordia' ... with the aim of having it serve as our guide and
beacon".
 During his traditional exchange of Christmas greetings with the members of the
Roman Curia, the Holy Father addressed the prelates recalling their previous
meetings: in 2013, when he stressed "two important and inseparable aspects of
the work of the Curia: professionalism and service", offering St. Joseph as a
model to be imitated. Then, last year, as a preparation for the sacrament of
Reconciliation, he considered "certain temptations or maladies - the catalogue
of curial diseases ... which could affect any Christian, curia, community,
congregation, parish or ecclesial movement. Diseases which call for prevention,
vigilance, care and, sadly, in some cases, painful and prolonged
interventions".
 "Some of these diseases became evident in the course of the past year", he
continued, "causing no small pain to the entire body and harming many souls,
also by scandal. It seems necessary to state what has been - and ever shall be
-
the object of sincere reflection and decisive provisions. Reform will move
forward with determination, clarity and firm resolve, since Ecclesia semper
reformanda. 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. St. Ignatius taught that 'it is typical
of
the evil spirit to instil remorse, sadness and difficulties, and to cause
needless worry so as to prevent us from going forward; instead, it is typical
of
the good spirit to instil courage and energy, consolations and tears,
inspirations and serenity, and to lessen and remove every difficulty so as to
make us advance on the path of goodness'".
 Therefore, "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. Moreover, cases of resistance,
difficulties and failures on the part of individuals and ministers are so many
lessons and opportunities for growth, and never for discouragement. They are
opportunities for returning to the essentials, which means being ever more
conscious of ourselves, of God and our neighbours, of the sensus Ecclesiae and
the sensus fidei".
 Francis turned to the central theme of his discourse: "this return to
essentials ... just a few days after the Church's inauguration of the
pilgrimage
of the Holy Year of Mercy, a Year which represents for her and for all of us a
pressing summons to gratitude, conversion, renewal, penance and
reconciliation".
At the time of Christmas, the feast of God's infinite mercy, as St. Augustine
of
Hippo tells us, and in the context of the Year of Mercy, he presented to the
Roman Curia "a practical aid", beginning with the theme of missionary and
pastoral spirit.
 "Missionary spirit is what makes the Curia evidently fertile and fruitful; it
is proof of the effectiveness, efficiency and authenticity of our activity.
Faith is a gift, yet the measure of our faith is also seen by the extent to
which we communicate it. All baptised persons are missionaries of the Good
News,
above all by their lives, their work and their witness of joy and conviction. A
sound pastoral spirit is an indispensable virtue for the priest in particular.
It is shown in his daily effort to follow the Good Shepherd who cares for the
flock and gives his life to save the lives of others. It is the yardstick for
our curial and priestly work. Without these two wings we could never take
flight, or even enjoy the happiness of the 'faithful servant'".
 With regard to idoneity and sagacity: "Idoneity, or suitability, entails
personal effort aimed at acquiring the necessary requisites for exercising as
best we can our tasks and duties with intelligence and insight. It does not
countenance 'recommendations' and payoffs. Sagacity is the readiness to grasp
and confront situations with shrewdness and creativity. Idoneity and sagacity
also represent our human response to divine grace, when we let ourselves follow
the famous dictum: 'Do everything as if God did not exist and then put it all
in
God's hands as if you did not exist'".
 Spirituality and humanity: "Spirituality is the backbone of all service in the
Church and in Christian life. It is what nourishes all our activity, sustaining
and protecting it from human frailty and daily temptation. Humanity is what
embodies the truthfulness of our faith; those who renounce their humanity
renounce everything. Humanity is what makes us different from machines and
robots which feel nothing and are never moved. Once we find it hard to weep
seriously or to laugh heartily - these are just two signs - we have begun our
decline and the process of turning from 'humans' into something else. Humanity
is knowing how to show tenderness and fidelity and courtesy to all.
Spirituality
and humanity, while innate qualities, are a potential needing to be activated
fully, attained completely and demonstrated daily".
 Example and fidelity: "Blessed Paul VI reminded the Curia - in 1963 - of 'its
calling to set an example'. An example of avoiding scandals which harm souls
and
impair the credibility of our witness. Fidelity to our consecration, to our
vocation, always mindful of the words of Christ, 'Whoever is faithful in a very
little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is
dishonest also in much' and 'If any of you put a stumbling block before one of
these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great
millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of
the sea. Woe to the world for stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are
bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes".
 Reasonableness and gentleness: "Reasonableness helps avoid emotional excesses,
while gentleness helps avoid an excess of bureaucracy, programmes and planning.
These qualities are necessary for a balanced personality: 'The enemy - and
forgive me for quoting St. Ignatius once again - pays careful heed to whether a
soul is coarse or delicate; if it is delicate, he finds a way to make it overly
delicate, in order to cause it greater distress and confusion'. Every excess is
a symptom of some imbalance".
 Innocuousness and determination: "Innocuousness makes us cautious in our
judgements and capable of refraining from impulsive and hasty actions. It is
the
ability to bring out the best in ourselves, in others and in all kinds of
situations by acting carefully and attentively. It consists of doing unto
others
what we would have them do to us. Determination is acting with a resolute will,
clear vision, obedience to God and solely for the supreme law of the salus
animarum".
 Charity and truth: "Two inseparable virtues of Christian life, 'speaking the
truth in charity and practising charity in truth'. To the point where charity
without truth becomes a destructive ideology of complaisance and truth without
charity becomes myopic legalism".
 Openness and maturity: "Openness is honesty and rectitude, consistency and
absolute sincerity with regard both to ourselves and to God. An honest and open
person does not act virtuously only when he or she is being watched; honest
persons have no fear of being caught, since they never betray the trust of
others. An honest person is never domineering like the 'wicked servant', with
regard to the persons or matters entrusted to his or her care. Honesty is the
foundation on which all other qualities rest. Maturity is the quest to achieve
balance and harmony in our physical, mental and spiritual gifts. It is the goal
and outcome of a never-ending process of development which has nothing to do
with age".
 Respectfulness and humility: "Respectfulness is an endowment of those noble
and
tactful souls who always try to show genuine respect for others, for their own
work, for their superiors and subordinates, for dossiers and papers, for
confidentiality and privacy, who can listen carefully and speak politely.
Humility is the virtue of the saints and those godly persons who become all the
more important as they come to realise that they are nothing, and can do
nothing, apart from God's grace".
 "Diligence and attentiveness: "The more we trust in God and his providence,
the
more we grow in diligence and readiness to give of ourselves, in the knowledge
that the more we give the more we receive. What good would it do to open all
the
Holy Doors of all the basilicas in the world if the doors of our own heart are
closed to love, if our hands are closed to giving, if our homes are closed to
hospitality and our churches to welcome and acceptance. Attentiveness is
concern
for the little things, for doing our best and never yielding to our vices and
failings. St. Vincent de Paul used to pray: "Lord, help me to be always aware
of
those around me, those who are worried or dismayed, those suffering in silence,
and those who feel alone and abandoned".
 Intrepidness and alertness: "Being intrepid means fearlessness in the face of
troubles, like Daniel in the den of lions, or David before Goliath. It means
acting with boldness, determination and resolve, 'as a good soldier'. It means
being immediately ready to take the first step, like Abraham, or Mary.
Alertness, on the other hand, is the ability to act freely and easily, without
being attached to fleeting material things. The Psalm says: 'if riches
increase,
set not your heart on them'. To be alert means to be always on the go, and
never

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