Sunday, October 13, 2013

Pope urges nuns not to be too spiritual

https://scontent-a-mxp.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/996018_676669212344686_1382400951_n.pngPope Francis Friday berated the nuns whose fixed smiles betray 'a lack of joy that comes from within,'reports Ucanews.

'I am so disappointed when I meet nuns who are joyless, who might smile with the smile of a flight attendant but not with the smile of joy that comes from within,' the Pontiff told nuns at the Santa Chiara cloistered convent in the Italian city of Assisi.

Living in an enclosed order must not be 'purgatory,' Francis told the nuns. 'Nuns must not be too spiritual, and must endeavour to be experts in humanity in order that convent life is not purgatory,' he said.

He urged the nuns to embrace communal living and to live together like members of a happy, loving family. 

'Know how to forgive, how to tolerate each other because the devil takes every opportunity to divide us. Nurture friendships with each other and family life. And don't brag!' he told the nuns.

Earlier, 50,000 people packed into the square outside Assisi's medieval Basilica of San Francesco to hear Francis celebrate mass.