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In Roman Catholic services, a homily typically follows a Bible reading and aims to reinforce the teachings.
During his weekly audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis emphasized that homilies should be concise, recommending a maximum duration of eight minutes. “Priests should keep their homilies short and speak for a maximum of eight minutes to prevent members of the congregation from nodding off,” he stated.
The Pope explained that the homily, or the message delivered during a church service, “must be short: an image, a thought, a feeling.” He highlighted that sermons should not exceed eight minutes as people tend to lose attention and fall asleep beyond that timeframe, adding, “Priests sometimes talk a lot and you don’t understand what they are talking about.”
While Pope Francis has previously urged priests to avoid lengthy sermons, his own language usage has come under scrutiny. Controversy arose following reports that he used a highly derogatory term to describe the LGBTQ+ community.
Last month, Pope Francis apologized after Italian media reported that he used the term “frociaggine,” a vulgar Italian expression roughly translating to “faggotry,” during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops on May 20. However, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, Pope Francis repeated the term on Tuesday while meeting with Roman priests.
