About Francis Constantly Gossiping, Which He Constantly Condemns . . .

Francis is the living embodiment of the old parental admonition, 'Do as I say, not as I do'. I think we're entitled to expect more of our Holy Father.

From Southern Orders

By Fr Allan J. McDonald

I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE ELSE WAS WONDERING ABOUT POPE FRANCIS CONSTANT GOSSIP WHICH HE CONSTANTLY CONDEMNS AND FINALLY SOMEONE CALLS HIS REALITY SHOW “REAL HOUSEWIVES OF VATICAN CITY!”

I know, I know, we all do it, gossip, but when the pope does it constantly and as constantly as he condemns it, it makes me wonder. Not only does Pope Francis “cattily” lash out against Archbishop Ganswein, he also throws under the bus Cardinal Sarah. Technically, they are both Pope Francis’ former employees. In the USA if a boss talked nastily in a public forum about one of his former employees, he could be sued. Confidentiality about employee/employer relationships is the norm.

Pope Francis has also publicly used examples of his past to deride the person who did not live up to his standards. Think of the couple who were having children like rabbits. Can you imagine how they felt when the pope publicly humiliated them? Or what about the poor elderly woman who took her pet dog to a Vatican audience in a baby carriage. The pope used her as a negative example. There are other examples he used that publicly humiliated the person being used as an example.

But in a longer Crux article, this is what others have said about the Pope’s interview book. I’m glad I am not alone in thinking the very same thing!

As Italian journalist Massimo Gramellini put it, reading the (Pope interview) book is a bit like watching reality TV – think “Real Housewives of Vatican City.” Among other things, the pope openly dishes on the inner details of two conclaves, and he cattily lashes out at Benedict’s top aide, German Archbishop Georg Gänswein, claiming he lacks “nobility and humanity” for the way in which Gänswein allegedly tried to put the two popes at odds.

Lucetta Scaraffia, a renowned Italian journalist and the former editor of an insert to the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano dedicated to women’s issues, has noted the irony that Pope Francis has often warned against the dangers of slander and gossip. Yet, as she put it, to judge from the new book, “One suspects Bergoglio thinks a pope can do without obeying these healthy rules.”