Pope Francis Calls for Religious Leaders to Change
2021-12-24
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1Pope Francis urged top Vatican officials Thursday to show humility this Christmas season.
2The leader of the Roman Catholic Church made the comments during his yearly Christmas speech.
3He said pride and self-interest is harmful to their spiritual lives and corrupts the Church's purpose.
4Francis used his yearly Christmas speech to criticize Vatican administrators, or Cardinals, for what he sees as their moral and personal failings.
5He spoke about pride-filled clergy who hide behind Catholic Church traditions instead of seeking to help the neediest people with humility.
6"The humble are those who are concerned not simply with the past but also with the future," Francis said.
7They know how to look ahead, to widen their view and remember the past with feelings of thankfulness.
8The proud fear anything new, he added, "because they cannot control it."
9The Pope said that proud people only care about themselves, so they do not learn from their wrong actions and are not willing to forgive others.
10"This is a tremendous corruption disguised as a good. We need to avoid it," he said.
11Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has used his Christmas speech to speak against those who want to limit his efforts to reform the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
12Earlier this year, Francis cut pay to Cardinals by 10 percent.
13He also barred them from receiving gifts valued higher than $45.
14And, the Pope passed a law that permits the Vatican's own court to try Cardinals on criminal charges.
15Francis compared the leaders to the person in The Bible called Naaman, who was a rich and honored general.
16Naaman had to become humble to be healed from leprosy.
17"The story of Naaman reminds us that Christmas is the time when each of us needs to find the courage" and become humble like Naaman, he said.
18This year, Francis took his strongest step yet to control extremely conservative Catholic clergy.
19He placed restrictions on the use of the old style of Latin Mass ceremony.
20He strengthened those restrictions last weekend with a new set of rules to prevent local church publications from advertising the times for Latin masses.
21The Pope warned that the church might not survive without change.
22"All of us are called to humility, because all of us are called to remember and to give life.
23We are called to find a right relationship with our roots and our branches.
24Without those two things, we become sick, destined to disappear," he said.
25I'm Jill Robbins.
1Pope Francis urged top Vatican officials Thursday to show humility this Christmas season. 2The leader of the Roman Catholic Church made the comments during his yearly Christmas speech. He said pride and self-interest is harmful to their spiritual lives and corrupts the Church's purpose. 3Francis used his yearly Christmas speech to criticize Vatican administrators, or Cardinals, for what he sees as their moral and personal failings. He spoke about pride-filled clergy who hide behind Catholic Church traditions instead of seeking to help the neediest people with humility. 4"The humble are those who are concerned not simply with the past but also with the future," Francis said. They know how to look ahead, to widen their view and remember the past with feelings of thankfulness. The proud fear anything new, he added, "because they cannot control it." 5The Pope said that proud people only care about themselves, so they do not learn from their wrong actions and are not willing to forgive others. "This is a tremendous corruption disguised as a good. We need to avoid it," he said. 6Reform measures 7Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has used his Christmas speech to speak against those who want to limit his efforts to reform the Vatican and the Catholic Church. 8Earlier this year, Francis cut pay to Cardinals by 10 percent. He also barred them from receiving gifts valued higher than $45. And, the Pope passed a law that permits the Vatican's own court to try Cardinals on criminal charges. 9Francis compared the leaders to the person in The Bible called Naaman, who was a rich and honored general. Naaman had to become humble to be healed from leprosy. 10"The story of Naaman reminds us that Christmas is the time when each of us needs to find the courage" and become humble like Naaman, he said. 11New rules 12This year, Francis took his strongest step yet to control extremely conservative Catholic clergy. He placed restrictions on the use of the old style of Latin Mass ceremony. 13He strengthened those restrictions last weekend with a new set of rules to prevent local church publications from advertising the times for Latin masses. 14The Pope warned that the church might not survive without change. "All of us are called to humility, because all of us are called to remember and to give life. We are called to find a right relationship with our roots and our branches. Without those two things, we become sick, destined to disappear," he said. 15I'm Jill Robbins. 16Nicole Winfield reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. and Caty Weaver were the editors. 17__________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19humility - n. the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people 20church - n. a particular Christian group 21pride - n. a feeling that you are more important or better than other people 22tremendous -adj. very large or very great 23disguise - v. to hide (something) so that it will not be seen or noticed 24leprosy - n. a serious disease that causes painful rough areas on the skin and that badly damages nerves and flesh 25courage -n. the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous 26destined - adj. certain to do or to be something 27What do you think of the Pope's speech? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.