VATICAN (CNS): “The correct use of words is important, Words can be kisses, caresses, medicine, but they also can be knives, swords or bullets.” Pope Francis wrote in introduction to the book, Don’t Speak Ill of Others, by Capuchin Father Emiliano Antenucci.
Words, he said, can be used to bless or to curse, “they can be closed walls or open windows.”
Father Antenucci, encouraged by Pope Francis, promotes devotion to Mary under the title Our Lady of Silence.
In the new book, Pope Francis writes, “Silence is one of God’s languages and it also is a language of love.” He quotes St. Augustine: “If you keep silent, keep silent by love; if you speak, speak by love.”
Not speaking ill of others is not “just a moral act,” he said. “When we speak ill of others, we sully the image of God that is in each person.”
Repeating what he has said on many occasions, Pope Francis said compared people who throw “the bombs” of gossip and slander to “terrorists” sowing destruction.
The pope also quoted St. Teresa of Kolkata’s familiar phrase: “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.”
