Pope Francis vows to clear Vatican of ‘spiritual Alzheimer’s’

Pope Francis has told Vatican administrators he intended to press ahead “with firm resolve” to cleanse the Church’s bureaucracy which has been rocked by scandals and charges of greed and corruption.

In traditional Christmas greetings to the curia, the central Vatican administration, the 79-year-old pontiff said he had flu and excused himself for reading the speech seated, though he showed no signs of illness and later stood to greet the dozens of officials.

As it was last year, his speech was dominated by his intentions of ridding the Vatican’s bureaucracy of spiritual “diseases” — a reference to alleged corrupt practices among top administrators — despite resistance in the Church hierarchy.