Pope Francis reprimands Vatican staff for gossiping

Pope Francis exchanges season’s greetings with Vatican employee (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Pope Francis has told Vatican bureaucrats to stop speaking ill of one another as he 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.