Pope Francis on Monday said ''divisions'' and ''money'' were the devil's ''extremely powerful'' weapons to destroy the Church.
In a homily at Mass at Casa Santa Marta, the residence where he lives inside the Vatican, the pontiff likened divisions to a ''dirty war'' and ''terrorism'', blasting gossip for sowing rifts within the Church and calling for unity.
Divisions undermine ''the roots of unity - or the celebration of the Eucharist'', the pontiff said in his sermon, excerpts of which were published by Vatican radio.
''The devil sows jalousies, ambitions, ideas, to divide! Or it sows greed'', the pope also said.
As in a war, ''everything is destroyed'' and the devil is ''happy'' while ''we follow the game''.
Citing Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Pope Francis said anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body and blood of Jesus, eats and drinks judgment on himself, calling for the unity that is ''at the root of the Church, which is indeed the sacrifice of Christ that we celebrate every day''.
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