VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXVI - # 35
DATE 19-02-2016
Summary:
- Interview with the Pope on his return flight from Mexico
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Interview with the Pope on his return flight from Mexico
Vatican City, 19 February 2016 (VIS) - As is customary in his apostolic trips,
the Pope answered questions posed by journalists during the return flight to
Rome, on his visit to Mexico and his encounter in Havana, Cuba with the
Patriarch Kirill. The Holy Father addressed a series of themes that ranged from
his Mexican experience to the problem of paedophilia, immigration to the
European situation, as well as the repercussions of the document signed with
the
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the law on civil unions and the various
problems linked to the family. He also expressed his hope to meet with Imam of
the Mosque of Al-Azhar and revealed that he would like to visit China.
The following is a summary of the questions asked by journalists and the
replies given by the Pope:
Question: "Holy Father, thousands of people are missing in Mexico, but the
case
of the Ayotzinapa 43 is emblematic. I would like to ask you why you did not
meet
with their families and also if you could offer a message to the families of
the
thousands of missing persons".
Pope Francis: "My messages make continual reference to assassinations, deaths,
and lives taken by all these bands of drug traffickers, and by traffickers of
human beings. I spoke about these problems as one of the wounds from which
Mexico suffers. There have been some attempts to receive people, and there were
many groups, even opposed to each other, with internal battles. Therefore I
preferred to say that at the Mass I would have seen everyone, in the Mass at
Juarez if they preferred, or at another, but I was open to this eventuality. It
was practically impossible to receive all the groups who, on the other hand,
were opposed to each other. It is a difficult situation to understand clearly,
for me, as a foreigner. But I believe that Mexican society is a victim of this:
of crimes, of this tendency to make people disappear, to discard them. I spoke
about this in my discourses where I could. It is a great source of pain that I
bear, as this people does not deserve to experience a tragedy like this".
Question: "The theme of paedophilia, as you know, has very dangerous and
painful roots in Mexico. The case of Fr. Maciel has left important scars,
especially for the victims. The victims continue to feel that they are not
protected by the Church. ...What do you think about this idea that when priests
are discovered in a case of this nature, they are to be moved to another
parish,
and nothing else. How do you regard this matter?".
Pope Francis: "A bishop who moves a priest to a different parish if he detects
a case of paedophilia is without conscience and the best thing for him to do
would be to resign. Secondly, I would like to return to the Maciel case. Here I
would like to render homage to a man who battled in a moment in which he did
not
have the strength to impose himself, to the point of being able to do so:
Cardinal Ratzinger, a man who had all the documentation. When he was prefect of
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he had all the documentation in
his hands, he carried out investigations ... but was not able continue up to
the
end. But if you remember, ten days before St. John Paul II died, that Good
Friday Via Crucis, he said to all the Church that it was necessary to clean up
all the 'filth' in the Church. In the Mass Pro Eligendo Pontifice - he was no
fool, he knew he was a candidate - he did not try to conceal his position, he
said exactly the same thing. That is, he was the courageous man who helped
greatly to open this door. Thirdly, we are working hard. With the Cardinal
Secretary of State, in discussion, and also with the group of nine cardinal
counsellors, I decided to appoint a third secretariat adjunct to the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is occupied exclusively with
these cases, because the Congregation is unable to manage them with all it has
to do, and therefore this secretariat knows how to manage this. Further more,
the Court of Appeal was constituted, presided over by Msgr. Scicluna, which is
dealing with the cases of second instance, on appeal. ... Another thing that is
working very well is the Commission for the Protection of Minors. ... With
regard
to Maciel, returning to the Congregation, action has been taken and now the
Congregation, the governance of the Congregation is semi-commissioned, or
rather
the superior general is elected by the Council, by the General Chapter, but the
Vicar is chosen by the Pope. Two general counsellors are elected by the General
Chapter and the other two are chosen by the Pope, so that we are able to help
them to review old accounts".
Question: "You spoke very eloquently about the problems of immigrants. On the
other side of the border, however, there is a rather tough electoral campaign
in
progress. One of the candidates to the White House, the Republican Donald
Trump,
recently said in an interview that His Holiness is a man of politics or indeed
even a pawn in the hands of the Mexican government to favour a policy of
immigration. He has declared that, if elected, he intends to construct a 2,500
kilometre wall along the border between Mexico and the United States, and to
deport eleven million illegal immigrants, thus separating families, and so on.
I
would like to ask, first of all, what you think of these accusations and
whether
an American Catholic can vote for such a person".
Pope Francis: "I thank God that he has said I am a politician, as Aristotle
defined the human being as an 'animal politicus': at least I am a human being!
And that I am a pawn ... perhaps, I do not know. I will leave that to your
judgement, to the people. A person who thinks only of building walls, wherever
that may be, and not bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. With
regard to what I would advise, to vote or not to vote: I would not like to
become involved. I would say only that this man is not Christian. It is
necessary to see if he has said these things, and for this reason I would give
the benefit of the doubt".
Question: "The encounter with the Russian patriarch Kirill and the signing of
the Joint Declaration was acclaimed throughout the world as an historic step.
But now, already, in Ukraine the Greek Catholics feel betrayed and speak about
a
'political document', supporting Russian policy. On the ground, the war of
words
has broken out again".
Pope Francis: "It is as document that is open to discussion. I would also add
that Ukraine is a country that is going through a time of war, of suffering,
with many interpretations. I have mentioned the Ukrainian people asking many
times for prayers and closeness to them, both in the Angelus and in the
Wednesday general audiences. But the historical fact of a war - everyone has
their own idea: what is this war? Who started it? What must be done? What must
not be done? It is clear that this is an historic problem, but also an
existential problem for the country, and it speaks of suffering. And it is in
this context that I insert this paragraph, and what the faithful say can be
understood. [In an interview] the Ukrainian Catholic archbishop Sviatoslav
Shevchuk said that many faithful had called or written to him saying they felt
profoundly disappointed or betrayed by Rome. It is understandable that a people
in that situation feels this way. The document is debatable on this question of
Ukraine, but there it is said that the war is to stop and the conflict is to be
managed through agreements. I too have personally expressed my hope that the
Minsk Accords go ahead, and that what is written with the hand is not cancelled
out with the elbow. The Church of Rome and the Pope have always said, 'seek
peace'".
Question: "The Italian parliament is discussing the law on civil unions, an
issue that is giving rise not only to major political conflicts, but also to
fierce debate in society and among Catholics".
Pope Francis: "Firstly I do not know how things are in the Italian parliament.
The Pope does not get involved in Italian politics. At the first meeting I had
with the Italian bishops in May 2013, one of the three things I said was: with
the Italian government you are on your own. The Pope is for everybody and he
cannot get involved in the specific internal politics of a country. This is not
the role of the Pope. What I think is what the Church thinks and has so often
said - because this is not the first country to have this experience, there are
so many - I think what the Church has always said about this".
Question: "For several weeks there has been great concern in many Latin
American countries, and also in Europe, regarding the Zika virus. The greatest
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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