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Pope Francis is Sick of People Whining All the Time

By Christoph Wagener (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Christoph Wagener (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The new sign posted at the door of the papal residence urges visitors to get their act together

Pope Francis's message was never clearer: he communicated through a sign that one must not whine.[/tweetit] The sign, gifted to him by Salvo Noe, a psychologist and motivational speaker, now hangs on the external frame of his residence door. Visitors to his Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican warn complainers to stop complaining. Instead, the sign says in bold letters, the people who complain should get busy to make things better.

Pope Francis is Sick of People Whining All the Time[/tweetthis]

The Italian signage outside the door is explicit. It is printed in red reverse white and standard black ink.

When translated into English, it says that those violating the suggestion given by the sign always feel like perpetual victims. This results in a reduction of sense of humor. The notice also adds that being a whiner all the time reduces that person's capacity to resolve problems.

The sign has the prominent language agnostic graphic for 'no', a circle with a backslash. The sign, other than communicating the above message, also says that the penalty gets doubled if the violation occurs when children are present. It then exhorts the reader to concentrate on one's potential and disregarding the limitations which one is invariably saddled with. The message orders the reader to squeeze the best out of everything being done. The closing words sum it up: “Stop complaining and take steps to improve your life.”

Vatican Insider first published a photograph of the sign on its website. Its presence was subsequently confirmed by Andrea Tornielli, the chief editor of Reuters. The latter is known to be close to the pontiff. He has interviewed him a number of times.

The sign is a needed one in the Vatican because the pontiff suffers a lot of complainers in his daily life. His trials started in 2013, the year he was appointed as pope. Francis, from then on, had tried to push the 1.2 billion believers' Catholic Church towards a more merciful and inclusive path. Conservatives within the church continue to be displeased by his action. They allege he is trying for a doctrinal confusion.

Pope Francis's last trying career episode comes in the form Gerhard Mueller, the German Cardinal who got removed on the pontiff's orders from his position of doctrinal chief at the Vatican. The latter had reached the end of the standard five-year term. The German expected his position to be renewed while he has disagreed with the pontiff on a number of issues.

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