Post date: May 08, 2013 5:32:39 PM
Pope Francis has said that clergy who were "careerists" or "social climbers" were doing serious damage to the Catholic Church. He has also told nuns that they must be the spiritual mothers of the church.
VATICAN CITY (MAY 8 2013) (CTV) - Pope Francis said on Wednesday (May 8) that clergy who were "careerists" or "social climbers" were doing serious damage to the Catholic Church, his latest utterance aimed at instilling a sense of frugality and service in the Vatican and beyond.
Francis, 76, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, made the comments while addressing a gathering of the superior general, an order of nuns from around the world.Since his election on March 13, Francis has made it clear through his words and example that he wants clergy to live simpler lives, to serve the poor and shun temptations of power.
He has decided not to live in the spacious, luxurious papal apartments in theVatican's Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, opting instead for a small suite in a guest house, where he shares meals with other residents.
In his address, Francis appeared to be sending a message not only to priests, nuns and bishops around the world who serve the 1.2 billion-member Church, but also to bureaucrats in the Vatican itself.
"I am happy to meet you today and I wish to greet each one of you and to thank you for everything you do as the life of a priest is always a light in the path of the church" Pope Francis said.
Speaking to the nuns at the audience the pope said:
"Be joyful because it is beautiful following Jesus and beautiful being a living icon of the Madonna and of our Holy Mother church."
Francis has inherited a Vatican rocked by a scandal in which documents leaked to the media spoke of alleged corruption in its administration and depicted prelates as fighting among themselves to advance their careers.
Last month he set up an advisory board of eight cardinals from around the world to help him reform the Vatican administration, known as the Curia.
They will help him put into place changes in an administration which has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.
Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope's desk and leaked by his butler in what became known as the "Vatileaks" scandal.
Before the conclave that elected Francis, cardinals called for changes to the Curia to make it a model of good governance, including introducing term limits on Vatican bureaucrats.
Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons that cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years and quashed the chances of one of the front-runners, Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola.