Pope’s address to Roman Curia was for examination of conscience

NEWS reports and commentaries about the speech the Holy Father gave on the morning of December 23, during the traditional annual audience with the Cardinals and Superiors of the Roman Curia for the presentation of Christmas greetings, made it sound like the Pope was humiliating his Cabinet members.

The talk he gave after he greeted the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, has been reported on and described often out of context. Some reporters and editors obviously wanted to project an image of the Pope as a stern boss at his wit’s end over the sinfulness, corruption and malfeasances of the members of the Roma Curia and the Vatican bureaucracy.