Pope Francis has urged the bishops and cardinals who lead the Vatican Curia not to be in conflict with one another, warning that the Church can become polarised if the prelates appear always at odds. Source: NCR Online.
In an annual pre-Christmas meeting that Francis has used previously to upbraid his top Vatican officials, the pontiff acknowledged that the Church may be in crisis due to scandals “past and present” but said crisis should not be confused with conflict.
“Crisis generally has a positive outcome, whereas conflict always creates discord and competition, an apparently irreconcilable antagonism that separates others into friends to love and enemies to fight,” the Pope told the prelates yesterday.
“When the Church is viewed in terms of conflict – right versus left, progressive versus traditionalist – she becomes fragmented and polarised, distorting and betraying her true nature,” the Pope said.
“[The Church] must never become a body in conflict, with winners and losers, for in this way she would spread apprehension, become more rigid and less synodal.”
Francis told the Vatican officials that they should not seek to hide from crises, but allow them to bring out needed changes.
“Everything evil, wrong, weak and unhealthy that comes to light serves as a forceful reminder of our need to die to a way of living, thinking and acting that does not reflect the Gospel,” he said.
FULL STORY
Francis warns Vatican officials their conflicts polarize Catholic Church (By Joshua McElwee, NCR Online)
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