Pope Francis prays against sin of ‘self-pity’ in weekly Mass


Self-pity and sadness are ‘the seed of the devil’ the Pope warns during livestreamed Mass as he urges Christians not to ‘complain about everything’

  • Pope Francis live-streamed Holy Mass from the chapel of his Vatican residence
  • He prayed for people to recognise the ‘evil’ of complaining about their lives 
  • ‘Many of us [are] unable to do anything but complain about everything,’ he said 
  • He also prayed for medics and priests who died helping coronavirus victims
  • Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

Pope Francis urged Christians not to ‘complain about everything’ or indulge in the ‘evil’ of self-pity during a live-streamed mass on Tuesday night.

Francis said that sloth – marked by carelessness, apathy and self-pity – is a ‘poison, a fog that envelops the soul and doesn’t let it live’ as he spoke via webcam from the chapel of his Vatican residence.

He also offered a prayer for health workers and priests who have died helping those who are sick from coronavirus, praising their ‘heroic example’.

Pope Francis urged Christians not to succumb to the evils of self-pity and to stop complaining about their lives rather than taking action during a Mass livestreamed from his Vatican home

Delivering his homily, the Pope said: ‘The sin of sadness is the seed of the devil, that inability to make a decision about one’s own life, but OK with looking at other people’s lives in order to complain about that, not to criticize them but to lament about oneself.

‘It makes me think about so many of us, so many Christians who live in this state of sloth, unable to do anything but complain about everything,’

Hours later, Francis took part in another online broadcast – a mass Lord’s Prayer to help comfort people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During the prayer, Francis begged for God’s mercy amid a pandemic which has infected some half a million people worldwide and killed in excess of 20,000. 

Francis also offered a prayer for those who have died while treating coronavirus patients, saying they provide an 'heroic example'

Francis also offered a prayer for those who have died while treating coronavirus patients, saying they provide an ‘heroic example’

‘In this moment, we want to implore (God’s) mercy for a humanity so sorely tried by the coronavirus pandemic. 

‘We do it together, Christians of every Church and Community, of every tradition, of every age, language and nation,’ he said.

In an introduction to the ‘Our Father’, which is also known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, he said it was also for ‘the sick and their families, health workers and those who assist them, for authorities, police forces and volunteers, for the (religious) ministers of our communities’.

There are about 2.3 billion Christians in the world, of whom some 1.3 billion are Roman Catholics.

The 83-year-old Francis prayed from inside the Vatican, where he has been holed up for the past few weeks as a precaution as Italy has imposed stringent measures to tackle what has become the world’s worst outbreak of the disease. 

Hours later, Francis took part in a mass Lord's Prayer around the world while calling on God for mercy from the current pandemic

Hours later, Francis took part in a mass Lord’s Prayer around the world while calling on God for mercy from the current pandemic

The pope has been holding his general audiences and Sunday blessings over the internet and television from the official papal library instead of before crowds numbering tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

There are over 420,000 cases of coronavirus reported across 196 countries, according to a Reuters tally at 0200 GMT on Tuesday. About 19,000 deaths are linked to the virus.

Italy has reported more than 5,000 infections in the past day alone and total infections are now almost 70,000. 

Italy will overtake China’s case load of 81,000 within days if the rate of infection continues at this pace.

Italy had reported 6,820 coronavirus-linked deaths as of 1700 GMT on Tuesday, the highest toll in the world.