“May this Christmas open our eyes and may you abandon anything superfluous, fake, malicious or specious. May we see the essential, real, good and authentic. Best wishes!”. That was the Christmas message formulated by the Pope, in the fifth speech addressed to the Roman Curia: his best wishes for Christmas festivities. The theme is the Curia “ad extra”, said Francis: “The relations of the Curia with the nations, with particular Churches, with Eastern Churches, with ecumenical dialogue, with Hebraism, Islam and the other religions, that is, with the external world”. The starting point, said the Pope, are “the basic and canonical principles of the Curia”, its very history, as well as the “personal vision which I tried to share with you in my speeches in the last few years, in the context of the current reform”. “Making reforms in Rome is like cleaning the Sphinx in Egypt with a toothbrush”, stated Francis, quoting a “nice and meaningful” expression of Msgr. Frédéric-François-Xavier De Mérode. “It is clear, he said, that plenty of patience, dedication and delicacy are necessary to reach this goal, because the Curia is an old, complex and venerable institution, made up of men with different cultures, languages and mind constructions. As a structure, it has always been linked with the primatial function of the bishop of Rome in the Church, that is, the ‘sacred’ office desired by the Lord Christ himself for the good of the whole body of the Church”.