He called on the employees of the tribunal to show personal courage.
Because this unsettles the corrupt, said the Pope in his speech.
Due to his current respiratory illness, Francis had the speech read out by a member of staff.
"Without this healthy courage, one runs the risk of giving in to resignation and ultimately overlooking many small and large abuses," the head of the Church warned in the text.
Especially as employees of the judiciary, courage is also needed "to go to the extreme in the rigorous investigation of the truth and not to forget that doing justice is always an act of neighbourly love", the speech continued.
This also applies when particularly serious and scandalous behaviour comes to light and needs to be sanctioned - all the more so when it happens within the Christian community.
It takes courage to stand up for due process and expose oneself to criticism.
The strength of the institutions and the firmness of the administration of justice are shown in the serenity of judgement, the independence and impartiality of those who are called upon to judge at the various stages of the process.
The Vatican City court was last the subject of international media coverage in mid-December.
Just under three months ago, a historic financial trial involving ten defendants ended there.
For the first time in church history, a cardinal was convicted in a criminal case.
In total, almost twice as many cases were dealt with in 2023 as in the previous year, said Vatican prosecutor Alessandro Diddi in his speech on Saturday.