Last month, Pope Francis declared gossip to be a “plague worse than Covid”.
Pope Francis’s declaration last month that gossip is a plague worse than Covid was met by some with derision – not least by the Italian government. But three political news stories since then have added weight to his warning, showing just how damaging gossip can be.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. – Ephesians 4:29
Sasha Swire, the wife of Sir Hugo Swire, former Tory MP and Minister, launched the pre-publication fanfare for her diaries with an interview in the Sunday Times Magazine in early September. Affecting not to realise how scandalous her diaries are, she feigned shock at the idea that it might cause rifts in her friendships with the former prime minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, among others, while admitting that this had already begun to happen. The extracts that have leaked out since then would seem to justify any abrupt breaking off of acquaintances. Swire comes across as spiteful petty, absurdly self-interested and loyal only to whoever is in charge. Having lampooned Boris Johnson, all it takes is for her to sit next to the new prime minister at dinner for her to swoon over him. There are plenty other such tales of her head being turned by power, whether it’s her description of her and her husband feeling like “children in a sweet shop” when he gets a promotion that brings with it the use of a castle and butler, or her glee at an invitation to Chequers. The dairies have an immediate, intimate feel which, admittedly, makes them uproariously funny in places and fascinating in others. But what of the damage? What of the local councillors, nicknamed by Swire “the toilet seats” for their habits of jumping up and down? What of David Cameron being described, snobbishly, as “home counties” for suggesting she get a billiards table, after he has done the Swires the honour of coming to visit them for a weekend? What of her own children, Saffron and Siena, who barely escape her scorn? Swire’s gossipy tone may help her shift copies, but it will cost her both her existing friends and the chance of future ones.
I have never much been in favour of sneak culture, myself. – Boris Johnson
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson himself has asked the public to gossip less – at least when it comes to snitching on neighbours for breaking the newly implemented “Rule of Six”. Refuting claims that the country could become an SS-lite nation, with curtain-twitchers calling emergency services if they counted six or more people gathered together, the Prime Minister said “I have never much been in favour of sneak culture, myself.” He instead urged members of the public to speak directly to rule-breakers before alerting authorities. The idea that we could converse as rational adults was newsworthy, with major broadsheets taking up the story. Who knew the gossiping culture was so rife that railing against it could make the 6pm headlines?
The Duchess of Cambridge, perhaps knew, for she was recently successful in getting Tatler magazine to remove some unauthorised comments about her. The story, originally published in the summer, described the former Kate Middleton as “perilously thin”, and attacked the Duchess’s family of origin, describing her mother Carole Middleton, as a “terrible snob,” and calling her sister, Pippa, “too regal and try-hard.” Kensington Palace issued a rare statement on publication of the piece, which also claimed that the Duchess had a poster of Prince William on her wall while a boarder at Marlborough College. And in mid-September Tatler finally removed the offending lines from its online version of the article. In the end, the high-society bible was left looking far more foolish than the dignified Middleton family. Another victory for the anti-gossip brigade.
While Proverbs 18:8 admits that “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body”. Now is the time to think about whether these morsels provide any true sustenance. For every gossipy comment there is a three-dimensional human being who might be hurt, and who at the very least should have a chance to defend themselves. In the words of Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Amen to that.
Violet Hudson is a freelance journalist. She contributes toThe Spectator, Standpoint and the Catholic Herald.
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