Vatican City, Dec 13, 2016 / 16:50 pm
In his homily at Mass Tuesday, Pope Francis spoke harshly about what he considers one of the great dangers of clericalism: that it alienates members of the Church by refusing to be close to them, and reinforces the belief that priests are above the laity.
Of course, this isn't the first time that Pope Francis has spoken out against clericalism – in fact, it could easily be considered one of the most frequently-repeated topics of his pontificate; most recently to a group of Jesuits, but he has also strongly condemned it in the Church in Latin America.
The Pope's homily Dec. 13 was given before members of the Council of Cardinals, an advisory body of the Pope, with whom he has been meeting this week. The Council, which last met Sept. 12-14, has been helping to facilitate Francis' reform of the Roman Curia.
After the September meetings, Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, secretary of the Council of Cardinals, published a summary of their work, linking the Council's actions to the "needs for a pastoral conversion" that Pope Francis discussed in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.