Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) – At
the end of his trip, during the flight from Tel Aviv to Rome, Pope
Francis spoke for over 40 minutes with the journalists who
accompanied him on the flight, answering their questions on various
issues linked not only to his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but also
in relation to the abuse of minors, remarried divorcees, his upcoming
trips, priestly celibacy, and so on. Below is a summary of some of
the Pope's answers.
The Holy Land and the prayer meeting in
the Vatican with Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas.
The most authentic gestures are those
that we don't think about, those that come to us, aren't they? I
thought about suggesting it during the trip, but there were many
logistical problems, because each one has to consider the territory,
and it's not easy. So I thought about a meeting, and at the end, I
came up with this invitation. It will be an encounter to pray, not
for the purposes of mediation. We will pray with the two presidents;
prayer is important, it helps. Afterwards, each person will return
home. There would be a rabbi, a Muslim, and myself.
Abuse of minors
At the moment there are three bishops
under investigations: one has already been found guilty and we are
now considering the penalty to be imposed. There are no privileges. …
A priest who does this betrays the Body of the Lord, because this
priest must lead this child, this boy, this girl, to sanctity, and
this boy or girl trusts in him; and instead of leading them to
sanctity he abuses them. This is very serious. It is like, by way of
comparison, holding a black Mass. You are supposed to lead them to
sanctity and instead you lead them to a problem that will last their
entire lives. In a few days' time there will be a Mass at the Domus
Sanctae Marthae with some survivors of abuse, and then a meeting with
them. … But we must move forward on this issue, with zero
tolerance!
Contradiction between the poor and
austere Church and the financial scandals within
The Gospel tells us that Lord Jesus
once said to His disciples that it is inevitable that there will be
scandals, because we are human and we are sinners. And there will be
scandals. The key is trying to avoid that there are more of them!
Economic administration calls for honesty and transparency. The two
Commissions, the one which has studied the IOR and the Commission
that has studied the Vatican as whole, have reached their
conclusions, and now the ministry, the Secretariat for the economy
directed by Cardinal Pell, will carry out the reforms that the two
Commissions have advised. … For instance, in the IOR I think that
around 1,600 accounts have been closed, belonging to people who were
not entitled to hold an account at the IOR. The IOR exists to help
the Church, and accounts can be held by bishops, Vatican employees,
and their widows or widowers, to draw their pensions. … But other
private individuals are not entitled to accounts. It is not open to
all.
European elections
There is a key word: unemployment. This
is a serious matter. It is serious because I look at it this way,
simplifying somewhat. We are in a global economic system which places
money at its centre, not the human person. A true economic system
should revolve around men and women, the human person. This economic
system we have today places money at the centre and to maintain its
equilibrium, it has to carry out various “waste” measures.
Children are discarded, as the low birth rates in Europe show, and
the elderly are abandoned.
Stable and lasting peace in Jerusalem
The Catholic Church has established its
position from a religious point of view: it will be the city of peace
for the three religions. The concrete measures for peace must come
from negotiations. I agree that from the negotiations perhaps it will
emerge that it will be the capital of one State or another, it would
be madness on my part. But these are hypotheses, and I do not
consider myself competent to say that we should do one thing or
another. I believe that it is necessary to negotiate with honesty,
fraternity and great trust in the path of negotiation. It takes
courage to do this, and I pray that these two leaders, these two
governments will have the courage to take this path. It is the only
route to peace.
Priestly celibacy
The Catholic Church has married priests
– Greek Catholics, Coptic Catholics, those of oriental rites.
Celibacy is not a question of dogma, but rather a rule of life that I
greatly appreciate, as I believe it is a gift for the Church. But,
since it is not a dogma of faith, the door is always open.
Relations with the Orthodox Churches
Patriarch Bartholomew and I spoke about
the unity we create as we walk together. Unity cannot be created in a
congress on theology. He confirmed that Athenagoras said to Paul VI:
“We go ahead together, calmly, and put all the theologians together
on an island where they can discuss among themselves, and we walk
ahead in life!”. There are many things we can do to help each
other. For instance, with the Churches. In Rome, as in many cities,
many Orthodox go to Catholic churches. Another thing we mentioned,
that may be considered in the pan-orthodox Council, is the date of
Easter, because it is somewhat ridiculous to say, “When is your
Christ resurrected? Mine was resurrected last week”. Yes, the date
of Easter is a sign of unity. … We also spoke a lot on the problems
of ecology, and the need to work together on this issue.
Forthcoming trips and the problems
faced by Christians in Asia
With regard to Asia, two trips are
planned: the one to South Korea, for the meeting of young Asians, and
then, next January, a two-day trip to Sri Lanka and then on to the
Philippines, to the area affected by the typhoon. The problem of the
lack of freedom of worship affects not only certain Asian countries,
but also other countries in the world. Religious freedom is something
that not all countries have. Some have a certain level of control …
others adopt measures that lead to a real persecution of believers.
There are martyrs! There are martyrs in our times, Christian martyrs,
both Catholic and non-Catholic. There are places where it is
forbidden to wear a crucifix or to possess a Bible; where it is
forbidden to teach the catechism to children.
Abdication from the pontificate in the
case of failing strength and the issue of Popes emeritus
I will do what the Lord tells me to do:
pray, and seek God's will. But I think that Benedict XVI is not a
unique case. It happened because he no longer had the strength and in
an honest way – he is a man of faith, and humble – he took this
decision. Seventy years ago bishops emeritus barely existed, whereas
now there are many. What will happen to Popes emeritus? I think that
we must look to him as an institution. He has opened a door, the door
of Popes emeritus. Will there be others? Only God knows. But this
door is open, and I think that a bishop of Rome, a Pope who feels
that his strength is declining – because we live much longer now –
must ask himself the same questions that Pope Benedict faced.
Beatification of Pius XII
The cause for Pius XII is open.
However, there has been no miracle, and if there are no miracles it
is not yet possible to go ahead.
Synod on the family and remarried
divorcees
The Synod in October will be on the
family and the problems it faces; its riches and its current
situation. I do not like the fact that many people, even within the
Church, have said that it will be the Synod about remarried
divorcees, as if it could simply be reduced to a case study: can they
receive communion or not? The issue is much broader. Today, as we all
know, the family is in crisis, and it is a global crisis. Young
people no longer want to get married, or prefer simply to live
together; marriage is in crisis, and therefore the family is too. The
problem of family pastoral care is very broad. Pope Benedict said
something about the family three times: it is necessary to study the
faith with which a person approaches marriage and clarify that
divorcees are not excommunicated, and very often they are treated as
if they are.
Reform of the Roman Curia
The council of eight cardinals is
studying the constitution “Pastor bonus” and the Roman Curia. It
has consulted many people and with the Curia and is still studying
certain issues, such as bringing together various dicasteries to
streamline organisation. One of the key points is the economy, and it
is therefore necessary to work in collaboration with the secretary of
State. … The obstacles are those one encounters in any process of
this type. Planning the approach, the work of persuasion is very
important. There are some people who do not see this clearly, but any
reform involves these things. But I am content, in truth.
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