In his traditional Christmas rant to the Roman Curia, Pope Francis developed the theme of the season by accusing his assistants of being resistant to change and modernisation. He added, by way of amplification,  that some of them were in league with the Devil.

He took as his text the aperçu of the well-known English theologian Kenneth Charles Williams (1926 – 1988) : ‘Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!’

For the benefit of deaf Cardinals (of whom there appear to be many) the Pontifical tirade was this year interpreted in sign language by the talented Msgr Pio Vito Pinto.