This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
A New York Police Emergency Services Unit officer keeps watch atop Citi Field during Game 3 of the National League baseball playoff series between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar reaches over the wall but cannot catch a home run ball from Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A neighbor cries during the funeral of Jean Louis Jeune Gracien, who was killed during an attack by armed gangs, in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
New Orleans Saints linebacker Willie Gay Jr. signs autographs for a young fan before the start of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Chelsea's Guro Reiten, front, has a shot on goal during the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)
Alexander Zverev of Germany plays a forehand return against Tallon Griekspoor of Netherlands during the men's singles third round match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen over a home near Cremona, Alberta, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Journalists look, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, at the restoration works of the Cathedra of St. Peter's inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican. Bernini's monumental bronze canopy has been under restoration too since February while expert conservators worked meticulously on its intricate surface. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
A Chinese national residing in Sri Lanka holds a national flag as she waits to welcome the Chinese navy's sail training warship Po Lang at a port in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Supporters of Indian National Congress and National Conference party celebrate early leads in election outside a counting center on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
A Palestinian man holds the body of a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An officer from the home front command military unit examines the damaged apartment after it was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon in Kiryat Yam, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Debris from homes flooded in Hurricane Helene is piled curbside as Hurricane Milton approaches on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Port Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Ted Carlson puts his best friend Evan Purcell's cat McKenzie into a pick-up truck as the pair recover her along with other important items from Purcell's home ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, as debris from Hurricane Helene damage to Purcell's garage level still sits alongside the driveway, in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. "This place couldn't handle Helene," said Carlson, predicting. "It's all going to be gone." (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A tattered American flag flaps outside a home as furniture and household items damaged by Hurricane Helene flooding sit piled along the street awaiting pickup, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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A New York Police Emergency Services Unit officer keeps watch atop Citi Field during Game 3 of the National League baseball playoff series between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar reaches over the wall but cannot catch a home run ball from Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A neighbor cries during the funeral of Jean Louis Jeune Gracien, who was killed during an attack by armed gangs, in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
New Orleans Saints linebacker Willie Gay Jr. signs autographs for a young fan before the start of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Chelsea's Guro Reiten, front, has a shot on goal during the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)
Alexander Zverev of Germany plays a forehand return against Tallon Griekspoor of Netherlands during the men's singles third round match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen over a home near Cremona, Alberta, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Journalists look, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, at the restoration works of the Cathedra of St. Peter's inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican. Bernini's monumental bronze canopy has been under restoration too since February while expert conservators worked meticulously on its intricate surface. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
A Chinese national residing in Sri Lanka holds a national flag as she waits to welcome the Chinese navy's sail training warship Po Lang at a port in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Supporters of Indian National Congress and National Conference party celebrate early leads in election outside a counting center on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
A Palestinian man holds the body of a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An officer from the home front command military unit examines the damaged apartment after it was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon in Kiryat Yam, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Debris from homes flooded in Hurricane Helene is piled curbside as Hurricane Milton approaches on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Port Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Ted Carlson puts his best friend Evan Purcell's cat McKenzie into a pick-up truck as the pair recover her along with other important items from Purcell's home ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, as debris from Hurricane Helene damage to Purcell's garage level still sits alongside the driveway, in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. "This place couldn't handle Helene," said Carlson, predicting. "It's all going to be gone." (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A tattered American flag flaps outside a home as furniture and household items damaged by Hurricane Helene flooding sit piled along the street awaiting pickup, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis told Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday to stop speaking ill of one another, as he once again used his annual Christmas greetings to admonish the backstabbing and gossiping among his closest collaborators.
A wheezing and congested sounding Francis, who just turned 88, urged the prelates instead to speak well of one another and undertake a humble examination of their own consciences in the Christmas holiday season.
“A church community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk in the life of humility, renouncing evil thinking and speaking ill of others,” Francis said. “Gossip is an evil that destroys social life, sickens people’s hearts and leads to nothing. The people say it very well: Gossip is zero.”
“Beware of this,” he added.
By now Francis’ annual address to the priests, bishops and cardinals who work in the Vatican Curia has become a lesson in humility -– and humilitation -- as Francis offers a public dressing down of some of the sins in the workplace at the headquarters of the Catholic Church.
In the most biting edition, in 2014, Francis listed the “15 ailments of the Curia,” in which he accused the prelates of using their Vatican careers to grab power and wealth. He accused them of living “hypocritical” double lives and forgetting — due to “spiritual Alzheimer’s” — that they’re supposed to be joyful men of God.
In 2022, Francis warned them that the devil that lurks among them, saying it is an “elegant demon” that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith.
This year, Francis revisited a theme he has often warned about: gossiping and speaking ill of people behind their backs. It was a reference to the sometimes toxic atmosphere in closed environments such as the Vatican or workplaces where office gossip and criticism circulate.
Francis has long welcomed frank and open debates and even has welcomed criticism of his own work. But he has urged critics to tell it to his face, and not behind his back.
The annual appointment kicks off Francis’ busy Christmas schedule, this year made even more strenuous because of the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year on Christmas Eve.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Pope Francis meets with Italian pilgrims participating in the Camino de Santiago, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Francis tries a skullcap received by faithful during the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)