Christians should be "slaves of love" not duty, Pope Francis said Monday, urging Catholics not be rigid rule-followers but to exercise their God-given freedom.
Francis urged against "the sad, inward-looking prayers of those who don't know how to receive a gift, because they are afraid of freedom."
"These Christians are beholden to duty but not to love. When you become a slave of love, you are free," he said, quoted by Vatican Radio.
"And that is a beautiful kind of slavery," he said in a sermon as he celebrated mass at the Vatican hotel, where he lives.
Fearful Catholics who "hide behind the rigidity of the Commandments" cannot experience joy, Francis warned.
"They (the Commandments) don't give you joy because they don't give you freedom."
