Vatican bureaucracy & resistance to reforms ‘inspired by devil’ – Pope Francis

[Biblicist]

I have to give Francis some credit with how he has openly admitted that the Vatican bureaucracy is about as corupt and evil as it could possibly be in this day and age. The following three interesting articles were found at RT.com and links have been provided to the full articles:


Vatican bureaucracy & resistance to reforms ‘inspired by devil’ – Pope Francis RT.com

In his annual Christmas speech, Pope Francis slammed Vatican officials for pushing back against reforms that the pontiff has been pushing forward since 2013, saying that those taking part in “malicious resistance” have been inspired by the devil.
“The absence of reaction is a sign of death! Consequently, the good cases of resistance – and even those not quite so good – are necessary and merit being listened to, welcomed and their expression encouraged,” Pope Francis said Thursday, addressing the Roman Curia.

“There are also cases of malicious resistance, which spring up in misguided minds and come to the fore when the devil inspires ill intentions (often cloaked in sheep’s clothing),” the pontiff added.

“The reform does not have an aesthetical end to make the Curia more beautiful; it cannot be understood as a sort of face-lift or applying makeup to beautify the elderly curial body, nor plastic surgery to remove wrinkles,” he continued.

This is the third year in a row that Pope Francis has blasted the Vatican bureaucracy he aims to reform and reorganize. He warned that the reforms he plans to undertake will be far-reaching and at the same time will require those who run the Curia to change as well.

The Vatican administration has met the pontiff's initiatives with resistance. Although Francis said he gladly accepts criticism, he spoke against destructive opposition “born of fearful or hardened hearts.”

“This last type of resistance is hidden behind words of justification and often accusations, by people taking refuge in tradition, in appearances, in formalities,” he said.

Reforms are necessary for the Church to better fit into today’s world, the pope noted, adding that he would like to see more diversity and lay Catholics, especially women, in decision-making.

The Pope came up with 12 criteria aimed at inspiring change since a reform is a “process of growth and above all, conversion.” Among other things Francis spoke of professionalism, noting that “every office must adopt a policy of personal formation to avoid the “rust” and “routine” as well as put end to the practice of “promoveatur ut amoveatur” (removal by promotion).

“This is a cancer!” the pope exclaimed, according to Catholic News Service.
This is not the first time the pontiff has employed medical metaphors. In 2015 he astounded the Curia with a list of 15 “spiritual ailments” that its members were suffering from.

In November four conservative officials made an attempt to challenge Pope Francis' teachings, accused him of spreading confusion and asked for clarification on a number of moral issues in a major document. However, there has been no direct reply to the challenge.

The alleged corruption, leaks and intrigues inside the Curia are named among the reasons that led Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI to become the first pope in six centuries to resign.

The current Argentina-born pope has managed to close some of the Curia’s inefficient departments and merged others. He is also standing for making the Vatican’s financial situation more transparent to society.

The annual papal Christmas greeting speech lasted some 45 minutes and took place at the Clementina Hall in Vatican City.


‘Costs are out of control’: New VatiLeaks books unmask Catholic Church corruption RT.com

Unseemly jostling for luxury apartments, unmonitored spending, and secret slush funds have been uncovered in two new books on the Vatican compiled from apparent inside information that may have led to the arrest of two prominent officials last weekend.

“Holy Father, There is a complete absence of transparency in the bookkeeping both of the Holy See and the Governorate. Costs are out of control,” says a confidential letter sent to newly-elected Pope Francis by a team of international auditors in June 2013. . . . . . Another ethically dubious cottage industry has reportedly sprung up around postulators, officials responsible for beatifying Catholic saints. In order to be confirmed as a saint, the candidate has to have led an exemplary life, performed heroic deeds, and have been responsible for miraculous cures, though not all of these requirements are set in stone. In practice, this has led to wealthy parishes joshing for a place in the queue, with scant regard for the merits of a particular candidate for sainthood. Nuzzi says that up to €500,000 may be necessary to “prove” a single miracle to the postulators. The money is transferred directly to their bank accounts and, as the whole process is meant to be confidential, it is unclear how it is then spent.

The postulators refused to provide any financial details concerning their operations to COSEA, which subsequently froze their bank accounts.​

Pope Francis orders release of Vatican whistleblower RT.com

Pope Francis has granted clemency to a Spanish priest who was convicted of leaking confidential Vatican documents that were used by two Italian journalists to expose Holy See secrets. . . . . . . The man behind the first leak, Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s butler, was jailed in October 2012 to serve 18 months behind bars. However, Benedict pardoned him after just two months in prison.​

 

[Biblicist]

How very interesting indeed! Having now had 40 views there has not been a single Roman Catholic who has thrown in his opinion on pope Francis's comments.

Now I cannot speak for any other forum members, but if the leader of my denomination were to go public and essentially say (praraphrased) "Many of the leaders within our denomination are deceivers and are being led by the Devil" then I think most Pentecostals and Evangelicals would be absolutely mortified.

I am of the opinion that maybe the silence on this particular thread is simply an acknowledgement by the members of this particular denomination that their leader is spot on. Am I incorrect or is it that due to the amount of material I quoted are the members of this particular denomination simply slow readers?

Mind you, my own denominational affiliations certainly has a number of questionable and even corrupt tele-celebrities within its ranks, but at least we will openly address this very distressing issue that we have allowed to fester within our circles.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

The Curia of the Vatican, which Pope Francis is criticizing, is not the same thing as the hierarhcy of the Roman Catholic Church, although it contains some hierarchs. Rather, the Curia is a bureaucracy influenced by disagreeable counter-cultural forces within Italy. I believe that forces in the Curia effectively forced Pope Benedict XVI, who I very much liked, to resign. There are powerful entrenched influences, and there is a known problem with homosexuality.

What I see in what Pope Francis is doing is an attempt by the hierarchy as a whole to bring the Curia into line and prevent the Roman church from being effectively subverted by its own internal bureaucracy.

Every denomination has a parasitic bureaucratic force of clingers-on, and these bureaucrats tend to interfere with the legitimate work of the clergy as a whole.

How very interesting indeed! Having now had 40 views there has not been a single Roman Catholic who has thrown in his opinion on pope Francis's comments.

I can hardly blame them, given that you are basically attempting to use what is a laudable example of internal administrative reform, a housecleaning many churches could urgently use, rather unfairly as a basis for criticizing the Roman church.

 

[Biblicist]

The Curia of the Vatican, . . .

Thanks for your comments Paul as I found them to be most helpful.

I have no doubt that many on this forum would have experienced a problem or two with salaried support staff, let alone with credentialed ministry. Quite often many of these support staff may have reluctantly taken on a task that they did not want which can create a few tensions both for the staff member and for those who they are supporting. Then there are those who might be technically good at their job but who lack the appropriate people skills and then there are those who could best be described as ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’, though our shared flawed humanity can at times come to the forefront within any of us.

As much as I attempt to stay away from threads that critique various denominations, though I am more than prepared to engage with criticisms of my own which I deem to be a healthy activity; the three articles that I posted from RT.com I found to be of interest particularly as they came from the head of the denomination that they related to.

The information in your post I certainly found to be helpful though I wish it had of come from someone who was a member of the denomination in question, but I suppose many of this particular denominations members have probably been conditioned to turn a blind eye to misbehaviour within their ranks, or who knows, the comments by Francis could have simply been too troubling for them to address.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

but I suppose many of this particular denominations members have probably been conditioned to turn a blind eye to misbehaviour within their ranks, or who knows, the comments by Francis could have simply been too troubling for them to address.

This would be irrational, because all denominations have this problem

 

[Biblicist]

This would be irrational, because all denominations have this problem

When we consider the worldwide attention that this particular denomination is receiving, be it toward banking irregularities, corruption or with the endemnic paedophilic rings within their ranks, then I can understand why no member from within this denomination has as yet decided to jump in and add in their few pence - well, I understand this to a degree at least.

I would imagine that if the comments within the three articles were attributed to the heads of say the Assembly of God, the Southern Baptists or with any other major Pentecostal or Evangelical denomination that there would be many of their members adding in not only comments but where they would be expressing their utter dismay and horror.

As I unintentionally came across these articles within possibly the leading online media source of our day, where many millions will be reading the same material then I would have expected to see at least a few of this denominations members expressing their dismay and sadness with what has been going on - but what do we see, complete silence!

If these news articles had of been posted purely as a sociological experiment then I think that this silence might not have bode all that well for this denominations forum members.

But leaving aside the content of these articles, even though many of us would have found most of the material to be repeating what we already knew, which it was in my case, what caught my attention was that this particular denominations leader had enough character and strength to raise these matters in public, which is what the members of this particular denomination should have been doing themselves - shame on them!

PS. I found your post #3 to be very informative and helpful - thankyou.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

I would imagine that if the comments within the three articles were attributed to the heads of say the Assembly of God, the Southern Baptists or with any other major Pentecostal or Evangelical denomination

There have been some major sex abuse scandals in some of those denominations of late. Take a look at the blog "Wartburg Watch" some time.

 

[Biblicist]

There have been some major sex abuse scandals in some of those denominations of late. Take a look at the blog "Wartburg Watch" some time.

Yes, it was only about 2 years back that I was involved with a meeting where I had to inform our State Police here in Victoria of some sexual abuse that had occurred a few years back with children within a particular large Pentecostal congregation. Without going into any details, the perpetrator was a very senior individual within an associated department (hopefully this is obscure enough) where I mentioned that the senior leaders of the congregation obviously had enough information to have him charged but they chose to take a safer and a more discreet option.

So wickedness of many varieties has and will continue to occur in our churches, but sadly it seems that the leadership of the denomination we are discussing had been protecting these villains all the way up to their denominations senior leadership. In fact, if the previous head of this denomination here in Australia was still alive he would undoubtedly be in jail where he belongs. But what should have grabbed the attention of many is with how Francis has decided to lay charges against Bishops who do not sack or have priests charged who have committed sexual offences against children - this is a very brave but a welcome change to their historical practices.

One of the complications of pastoral ministry has always been that men in particular can easily and unwisely place themselves in a situation where various emotions can overwhelm the persons who are involved. It is said enough when it is between consenting adults but of course when abuses occur with even older teenagers and particularly with younger children then this becomes a disaster for all who are involved, including the many extended family members as well.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I think it is positive when we, the entire Christian community or any individual is ready to call upon injustices and any behavior that is not like Christ within our communities. We need to worry about being Christ-like and a light for the world to see, not what human beings think/feel or how to mask improprieties.

We are children of the King and we need to all act like it, in word and deed.

Good thread Bbilicist.