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.”
March 5, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Is it wrong or bad to wish the pope would stop talking to the press and making so many interviews, at least for a little while?
March 5, 2014 at 2:16 pm
No, Michael, it's not bad.
March 5, 2014 at 4:00 pm
I'm imagining the New York Times headline: "Pope supports contraception, gay marriage, divorce."
March 5, 2014 at 4:41 pm
"It all depends on how the text of Humanae Vitae is interpreted."
Because it is such an equivocal document? If there was one thing that came out of the 1960's Church that was *not* left open to interpretation, it was HV, as the reaction at the time of its promulgation attests.
If these quotes are accurate, and accurately reflect the mind of Pope Francis, those looking for a Paul VI-type Humanae Vitae-moment should not be near sharp objects when the results of the synod are released.
"One must avoid to stay on the surface…"
On this I am obedient, because I have the overwhelming sensation of one who is drowning, or being buried alive.
March 5, 2014 at 4:45 pm
I just read that the Synod will open will open with this hymn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGcwpJgge6g
March 5, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Why oh why, does this pope INSIST on doing these interviews?? *sigh* 🙁
March 5, 2014 at 11:28 pm
Because he WANTS to.
March 5, 2014 at 6:16 pm
Anyone hear of the expression "The pen is mightier than the sword"?
The Swiss Guard should be disbanded for failing to protect the Pope from journalists. Journalists are doing more harm to the papacy with their pens (or rather their microphones) than Mehmet Ali Agca could do with a bullet.
March 5, 2014 at 6:32 pm
@wkndbeachcomber
That quote at least is accurate.
The original:
A mezzo secolo dall’Humanae Vitae di Paolo VI, la Chiesa può riprendere il tema del controllo delle nascite? Il cardinale Martini, suo confratello, riteneva che fosse ormai venuto il momento.
«Tutto dipende da come viene interpretata l’Humanae Vitae. Lo stesso Paolo VI, alla fine, raccomandava ai confessori molta misericordia, attenzione alle situazioni concrete. Ma la sua genialità fu profetica, ebbe il coraggio di schierarsi contro la maggioranza, di difendere la disciplina morale, di esercitare un freno culturale, di opporsi al neo-malthusianesimo presente e futuro. La questione non è quella di cambiare la dottrina, ma di andare in profondità e far sì che la pastorale tenga conto delle situazioni e di ciò che per le persone è possibile fare. Anche di questo si parlerà nel cammino del Sinodo».
Translation:
"A half-century after Humane Vitae of Paul VI, is the Church able to take up again the topic of birth control? Cardinal Martini, his brother believed that by now the time had come."
"Everything depends on how Humane Vitae is interpreted. The same Paul VI, in the end, recommended to confessors much mercy, attention to the practical situation. But his genius was prophetic, he had the courage to draw up against the majority, to defend moral dscipline, to employ a cultural brake, to oppose present and future neo-Malthusianism. The issue is not one of changing doctrine, but of going into the depth and to make it so that the pastoral takes account of the situation and of that which is possible for a person to do. Also regarding this, it will be discussed in the course of the Synod."
That's what it says in Italian. I'm not entirely sure what it all actually means.
Here we go again…
March 5, 2014 at 8:09 pm
For Lent, I think I should give up reading anything said by or about the Pope. It can only be good for my soul.
March 6, 2014 at 2:24 am
Divorce and Remarriage
"We need to give an answer. But we need to think deeply about it … "
Yeah, thank goodness Bishop Bergoglio is finally going to put some intellectual heft and seriousness to this issue. It's just a shame that his predecessors never bothered to consider this issue.
It's a great wonder that we have survived as an institution thus far without him.
March 6, 2014 at 3:45 am
.. . "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.”
WWhhhhaaattt?
Please speaka da English, not namby pamby gibberish.
March 6, 2014 at 4:28 am
The anticipated forthcoming explanations and interpretations from Catholic Blogworld will be entertaining. No, not really.
March 6, 2014 at 7:31 am
Yay another interview!!! *sarcasm off* I wish he would just shut his mouth but if it continues like this there is no doubt in my mind they will be giving remarrieds communion. No doubt.
March 6, 2014 at 10:15 pm
How about the Pope give up talking to the press for Lent? It would be better if he just stopped talking to reporters off the cuff for awhile and issue some teaching documents that were actually clear and concise. Letting the confusion and chaos calm down would be a very good thing.
Concise and Clear should be the Pope's new vocabulary words. Long and translucent should be out. There is just to much opportunity for obfuscation and manipulation by progressive Catholics and secularists.
As a father, I try to be clear and concise with my children to avoid the instinct to find the loop hole or confusion. The Holy Father would find that it makes discipline easier and it promotes familial tranquillity. Both rare commodities in the Church today. God Bless, and Viva Christo Rey!