The fifteen diseases of the Curia

I may not be religious, I am not a catholic and I have not thought much of the past popes, but this pope seems to have his priorities in the correct order.

Nothing proves that more than the his speech in front of the Curia.

The 15 diseases are:

The disease of feeling 'immortal' or 'essential'

The disease of excessive activity

The diseases of mental and spiritual 'petrification'

The disease of overplanning

The disease of bad coordination

The disease of spiritual Alzheimer's

The disease of rivalry and vainglory

The disease of existential schizophrenia
It is the disease of those who live 'a double life, a result of the hypocrisy typical of mediocre people and of advancing spiritual emptiness, which degrees or academic titles cannot fill'. It often strikes us that some 'abandon the pastoral service and limit their activities to bureaucracy, losing touch with reality and real people. They thus create their own parallel world, where they set aside all that the others harshly teach' and live a 'hidden' and often 'dissolute' life.

The disease of gossip and chatter
'It takes hold of a person making them "sowers of discord" (like Satan), and, in many cases, "cold-blooded murderers" of the reputation of their colleagues and brothers. It is the disease of cowards, who do not have the courage to speak upfront and so talk behind one's back... Watch out against the terrorism of gossip!'.

The disease of deifying the leaders
It is the disease of those who 'court their superiors', becoming victims of 'careerism and opportunism' and 'live their vocation thinking only of what they must gain and not of what they must give'. It might also affects the superiors 'when they court some of their collaborators in order to gain their submission, loyalty and psychological dependence, but the final result is real complicity'.

The disease of indifference to others
'When each one thinks only of themselves and loses the truthfulness and warmth of human relationships. When the more experienced ones do not offer their knowledge to the service of less experienced colleagues. When, because of jealousy or cunning, we rejoice in seeing others fall, rather than lift them up and encourage them'.

The disease of the funeral face
It is the disease of people who are 'scowling and unfriendly and think that, in order to be serious, they must show a melancholic and strict face and treat others - especially those, whom they think are inferior - with rigidity, harshness and arrogance'. In reality, adds the Pope, 'theatrical strictness and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and insecurity about themselves. The apostle must strive to be a polite, serene, enthusiastic and joyful person...'. Francis invites people to be full of humour and self-irony; 'How beneficial a healthy dose of humour can be!'

The disease of hoarding
'When the apostle seeks to fill an existential void in his heart by hoarding material possessions, not because of necessity, but only to feel secure'.

The disease of closed circles
When belonging to a clique becomes more important than belonging to the Body and, in some situations, than belonging to Christ himself. Even this disease starts from good intentions, but in time it enslaves all its members becoming "a cancer"'.

The disease of worldly profit and exhibitionism
'When the apostle turns his service into power, and his power into a commodity to gain worldly profits, or even more powers. It is the disease of those people who relentlessly seek to increase their powers. To achieve that, they may defame, slander and discredit others, even on newspapers and magazines. Naturally, that is in order to show off and exhibit their superiority to others'. A disease that 'badly hurts the Body because it leads people to justify the use of any means in order to fulfill their aim, often in the name of transparency and justice!'

Pope Francis: the fifteen 'diseases' of the Curia - Vatican Insider

From what I have seen and read about the Curia in the past, I have to totally agree with pope Francis about how deeply troubling the problems of the church and especially the leadership of the catholic church.

I like pope Francis, I like his focus on social justice and compassion .... But sometimes it seems like he's postering. I'm not a Catholic, but you know it's very easy to trash institutions, but it's much harder to actually keep an institutiong going, working well, and stay faithful to the institutions mandate and principles.

Are there corrupt People in the Curia, absolutely, I'm sure of it, is it mostly corrupt? I seriously doubt it.

It's easy to trash institutions, but Guess what, he's the Pope, he's the head of the curia, if he thinks Things need fixing then fix it, don't go around trashing the institution Your the head of.

At the same time I do love Francis' focus on social justice and not just in vague terms, but in actually concrete terms that make a difference in the world.

I'm not sure how any of us are supposed to know. Unless you work at the Vatican, have worked there in the past, or are in communication with someone who has, you probably don't know anything about the culture of the Curia other than what little leaks through the media and what the Pope has said.

I'm going to assume that if the Pope is saying it, it's probably true. But that's about all I or anyone else not involved with the Vatican can do.

Sounds pretty judgmental to me...

Everyone's at where they're at and it's part of their personal evolution, whether they acknowledge it as such or not. I certainly would not trust the Pope or the Church to define the ills of the world or their solutions, given their history of violence, oppression, segregation and genocide. I say that as a former Catholic, btw.

There's no real compassion with these people, so there's no point in being lead by them. They lead by fear only.

RGacky3 said:

I like pope Francis, I like his focus on social justice and compassion .... But sometimes it seems like he's postering. I'm not a Catholic, but you know it's very easy to trash institutions, but it's much harder to actually keep an institutiong going, working well, and stay faithful to the institutions mandate and principles.

Are there corrupt People in the Curia, absolutely, I'm sure of it, is it mostly corrupt? I seriously doubt it.

It's easy to trash institutions, but Guess what, he's the Pope, he's the head of the curia, if he thinks Things need fixing then fix it, don't go around trashing the institution Your the head of.

At the same time I do love Francis' focus on social justice and not just in vague terms, but in actually concrete terms that make a difference in the world.

Click to expand...

Well, I would think that working with the Curia the Pope has a good idea of what lives among the Curia. It is not like does not know the Curia in and out. Because he has had 5 different administrative functions in the Roman Curia before he became pope. So if any pope should know how it is in the Curia it is him.

what courage this man is exhibiting
he is so shaking up the vatican
in all the right ways

i suspect there are a lots of cardinals who would like a 'do over' when it came to casting a ballot for the next pope