Francis to Curia: "Gaza Is Not a War. It Is Cruelty, Death and Destruction"

Francis gave his his traditional Christmas address to the Roman Curia today. In recent years, the speech has been a long and tedious tirade against his audience.
This year, he softened his tone. In preparing the speech, he had "thought about speaking well of others and not speaking badly of them".
He began with the war in the Holy Land, mentioning that the Patriarch of Jerusalem was not allowed into Gaza yesterday while "children are being bombed": "This is cruelty. This is not war."
Francis then spoke of St Dorotheus of Gaza: "Yes, precisely of Gaza, the place that today is synonymous with death and destruction, but which is a very ancient city, where monasteries and luminous figures of saints and teachers flourished in the first centuries of Christianity."
Francis suggested that we learn from Dorotheus to accuse ourselves, and not to speak ill of our neighbour. He quoted this Saint:
"When evil befalls the humble man, he immediately blames himself, judging that he has deserved it. And …More