By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 3, 2024 / 08:00 am

“What would happen if we prayed more and complained less?” Pope Francis asked Aug. 2 on his official profile on X.

He then invited the faithful to ask the Lord for “the grace to know how to pray for one another.”

The Holy Father posted this message as part of the Year of Prayer 2024, which he proposed as a preparation for the upcoming Jubilee of Hope 2025.

The pope inaugurated the current Year of Prayer on Jan. 21, and since then he has invited the faithful to place themselves before the presence of the Lord on numerous occasions, especially through the hashtag #YearofPrayer.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has often reiterated the importance of avoiding complaining about others and “gossip,” which he has referred to as “a plague on people’s lives.”

On the occasion of an Angelus prayer last September, he lamented that “the first thing that is usually created around those who make mistakes is gossip, in which everyone finds out about the mistake, with all the details, except the person affected. This is not right and does not please God,” he affirmed.

“I never tire of repeating that gossip is a plague in the lives of people and communities, because it brings division, suffering, and scandal, and never helps [people] to improve and grow,” the Holy Father reiterated.

On another occasion, he warned that gossip is a “deadly poison” and something “very bad” that destroys “human communion.”

“Never speak ill of one another. If you have a problem with a sister or brother, go and tell them face to face. And if you can’t do it, swallow it, but don’t go around spreading unrest that does harm and destroys,” the Holy Father advised.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.