The Pope has granted another interview, this time to Corriere della Serra. The interview is wide ranging and touches on topics such as the media hype aroud the Pope, Humanae Vitae, the upcoming Synod, Marxism again, gay marriage, and sex abuse in the Church.
Surely there will be a lot to digest here. Here are some snippets I have gathered from several places while we await a full and complete translation. Do not take any citation or translation as gospel. Please Share this article.
“I don’t like the ideological interpretations of a certain Francis-mythology. If one says, for example, he was going at night from the Vatican to bring food to the homeless in the Via Ottaviano… That’s never crossed my mind. Sigmund Freud once said, if I’m not mistaken: In each idealization is also a hidden aggression. To draw the Pope as a kind of Superman, a kind of star, seems offensive to me. The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps quietly and has friends, like everyone. A normal person. “
“It all depends on how the text of Humanae Vitae is interpreted. Paul VI himself, towards the end, recommended that confessors show great kindness and attention to specific situations.
“His genius proved prophetic: he had the courage to stand against the majority, to defend moral discipline, to exercise a ‘brake’ on the culture, to oppose [both] present and future neo-Malthusianism. The question is not that of changing doctrine, but to go into the depths, and ensuring that pastoral [efforts] take into account people’s situations, and that, which it is possible for people to do.”
Divorce and Remarriage
“there is a long path that the Church must travel. The family is in a very “serious crisis” in that “the young people don’t get married any more. “We need to give an answer. But we need to think deeply about it … One must avoid to stay on the surface … ”
Re: Cardinal Kasper’s Speech on the above
Francis said that he had held a “beautiful and profound” lecture. In
the fifth point, the issue of remarried had been addressed. “I would
have been worried if there had not been intense debate in the
Consistory, which would have brought nothing. The Cardinals knew that
they could say what they wanted, and they have presented many different
points of view that enriched. The fraternal and open exchange can
nourish the theological and pastoral thinking. Regarding that, I’m not
afraid, on the contrary, I’m looking for it!”
Marriage in General and Gay Marriage
“The marriage is between a man and a woman. The secular states want to justify civil marriages, to address specific situations of coexistence. It drives the need to regulate economic aspects among people, such as health insurance. It’s about pacts of coexistence of different kinds .. You have to see the individual cases and assess their diversity.”
“The church has done a lot in this way. Perhaps more than any other. The statistics on the phenomenon of violence against children are impressive, but they also clearly show that the vast majority of abuse happen in the family and neighborhood environment. The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution that has moved with transparency and responsibility. No one else has done this. And yet the Church is the only one who is attacked.”
Regarding Benedict XVI and the abuse crisis. “very courageous and opened up a path”
“Women must have a greater presence in the decision-making areas of the church,” he said. “But I would call this a ‘functional’ promotion. That won’t take us very far.”
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