The smallest country in the world is…drumroll please…and the answer is – Vatican City, covering only 0.27 square miles.

Did you know that? I didn’t. But now we do.

Speaking of Vatican City, Pope Francis gave his annual Christmas address on Saturday at the Vatican, and as reported by the National Catholic Register, talked about a bit about Vatican City:
In a separate address to Vatican employees and their families, the Pope compared Vatican City to “a large beehive” bustling with activity in its streets, courtyards, corridors and offices. He thanked those working and unable to attend the gathering but made it possible.

The Pope also addressed gossip amongst Vatican employees and officials:

The Pope warned that gossip “damages social bonds, poisons hearts, and leads nowhere,” as he addressed cardinals and senior Vatican officials. He urged them to practice self-accusation rather than accusation of others, drawing on the teachings of early Christian spiritual masters.

The Apostle Paul agrees. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Paul admonishes the Corinthian believers: “For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults”.

Sounds a bit like what goes on behind closed doors in the Biden White House or a recent meeting of the Democratic National Committee. I kid – kind of.