Pope: ‘I Am a Servant of the Servants of God,
Not a Star’
Not a Star’
Addresses Clergy
Abuse Scandal, Annulments and Other Issues During Press Conference.
Rome, September 28, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
As customary, the press conference given by
Pope Francis on the return flight from Philadelphia to Rome was dense and rich
in ideas. In the conversation, the Pontiff responded across-the-board to
current important questions of the Church and of international politics without
avoiding the thorniest problems.
* * *
Sexual abuses by members of the clergy: “A
sacrilege!”
Regarding questions on sexual abuses by
members of the clergy, the subject was addressed following the Pope’s meeting
with five victims of paedophilia and denounced this plague to Bishops gathered
in Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. “I felt the need to express compassion
because something really terrible happened. And many of them suffered who did
not know of this.” Francis regarding his words to the U.S. Bishops. “And many
of them suffered who did not know of this. I used words from the bible from
Revelations: You are coming from a large tribulation. What happened was a great
tribulation’ not only because of the “emotional suffering,” stressed the Holy
Father, but also and especially because it was “a sacrilege,” almost “an
apostasy.” It’s true – he admitted – “abuses are everywhere: in families, in
neighborhoods, in schools, in gyms. But when a priest abuses it is very serious
because the vocation of the priest is to make that boy, that girl, grow towards
the love of God, toward maturity, and towards good. Instead this is squashed
and this is nearly a sacrilege and he betrayed his vocation, the calling of the
Lord.”
Bishops who have covered up abuses: “They are
also culpable”
The Pontiff also pointed his finger against
those who covered up these crimes, in the first place the Bishops. “They are
also guilty,” he said, “words of comfort were not to say “don’t worry that was
nothing…no, no , no, but it was so bad that I imagine that you cried hard”
Pedophile priests who do not ask for
forgiveness
The problem is that some some priests do
not apologize for the evil done, noted a journalist. “If a person has done
wrong, if he is aware of what he has done and does not apologize, I ask God to
take it into account. I forgive him, but he doesn’t receive the forgiveness; he
is closed to forgiveness,” the Pope retorts, specifying: It is one thing to
forgive – we are all obliged to forgive, because we have all been forgiven –
and it is something else to receive forgiveness. If the priest is closed to
forgiveness, he doesn’t receive it, because he has locked the door to God.”
... and victims who are unable to forgive. “I
understand them ...”
On the other hand, there are victims who
are unable to forgive. “I understand it and I pray for them, and I do not judge
them,” said Pope Francis. Then he recounted how, during a meeting, “a woman
said to me that ‘when my mother discovered that I had been abused, she blasphemed
against God, lost her faith and died an atheist.” “I understand this woman –
said the Pontiff – and I’m sure that God received her, because what was abused,
what was tampered with was her own flesh, her daughter’s flesh. I understand
her, and don’t try to tell her that she must forgive, I pray and ask God,
because God is a ‘champion’ in the path to solutions.”
A close Church, not detached from the people
Turning to the Bishops, who have endured
these sufferings within their own flocks, the Pope exhorted them to “continue
to work with the people as they have worked up to now, accompanying them in
their growth, in good things and in their difficulties,” “in joy and in awful
moments of difficulty, when there is no work, or there is sickness.” Because
the challenge of the Church today “is to be, as she has always been, close to
the people,” “not a Church detached from the people, but close, close” – a
lesson that the US Church has understood very well.
Remarried divorced persons. “Communion is not
the solution”
Still on the subject of the challenges of
the Church, the Pope referred to the imminent October Synod, when asked by a
journalist if “in your heart of a pastor there is the will for a solution for
divorced and remarried “ persons. “It seems a bit simplistic to me – the Pope
stressed – to say that for these persons the solution is the possibility to go
to Communion. It’s not the only solution. The Instrumentum Laboris proposes
many things. And it is not only remarried divorced persons; there is also the
problem of new unions. There are young people who don’t want to get married –
yet another problem. Emotional maturity is another problem: faith, do I believe
that this is forever? To become a priest one must prepare for eight years. For
lifelong marriage there are four meetings of a pre-marital course. It is
difficult to think how the preparation can be done.
Motu proprio on annulment causes. “Those who
think of a Catholic divorce are mistaken”
Asked about the Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex
Dominus Iesus, concerning the reform of the process for marriage annulment,
which -- some say -- has introduced a sort of ‘Catholic divorce,’ Pope Francis
responded clearly. First of all, he clarified, the process establishes if the
marriage is null or not “Catholic divorce doesn’t exist. Annulment is granted
if there was no marriage. However, if there was marriage, it’s indissoluble.
This is clear.” Then, he argued the fact that with the reform of the processes
“I closed the door to the administrative way, through which divorce could come
in.” Moreover, he added, the document is the fruit of the request of the
majority of the Synod Fathers in their session of last October, who asked that
the processes be simplified, given that some lasted as long as 10-15 years, “a
decision, and then another decision .... and then an appeal, then another
appeal, and it never ended.”
Therefore, the Motu Proprio , confirmed the
Pontiff, “facilitates the processes in time but it’s not a divorce,” because
“marriage is indissoluble when it is a Sacrament, and the Church cannot change
this.” “The legal procedure is to prove that what seemed to be a Sacrament
wasn’t a Sacrament, because of lack of freedom, for instance, lack of maturity
or because of mental illness ... But there are many reasons that lead to a
study, to an ‘investigation.” In any case, “you can find it on the Internet,”
said Francis.
No to women priests, but not because they
aren’t capable. In fact, the Church is female!”
In the ecclesial realm, Pope Francis
addressed the question – somewhat demode of women priests. He refers to Saint
John Paul II who, “after long and intense reflection, said clearly, ‘no.’”
However, “not because women don’t have the capacity,” specified the Holy
Father. “Look, in the Church women are more important than men because the
Church is female.. She is the Bride of Christ and Our Lady is more important
than Popes, Bishops and priests.”
The Sisters of the US are good. The people
love them”
Acknowledging the “delay” in the
elaboration of a “theology of woman,” the Pope took the occasion to praise the
American Sisters and their “wonderful” work in the field of education, of
hospitality, of health, be it in poor neighborhoods, be it in wealthy
neighborhoods. The people of the United States love the Sisters. I don’t know
how much they love the priests but they love the Sisters a lot. And they are
good, they are good women.
“So much so -- he said --, that “an
important person of the United States government said to me in these days:
‘What I have of education I owe primarily to the Sisters.”
Conscientious objection: “A human right. Never
deny it”
In connection with the Sisters, mentioned
in the conversation was the Pope’s surprise visit in Washington on September 24
to the Little Sisters of the Poor, to whom he expressed his support for the
judicial cause undertaken against ‘Obamacare.’ Hence the question to the
Pontiff about conscientious objection for government employees who do not want
to celebrate marriages between persons of the same sex -- a case that broke out
in the past weeks in Kentucky. “Conscientious objection is a right that enters
in every human right,” affirmed Pope Francis. “if a person doesn’t allow
conscientious objection he denies a right,” and it ends “in the selection of
rights: this is a quality right, this is a non-quality right.” Therefore, “if a
government employee is a human person he has a right.”
Peace processes in Colombia: “I am very happy”
The Pope’s look then broadened to foreign
politics, first of all to the peace process between the Colombian government
and FARC which seems, finally, to be coming to an end after half a century of
blood and conflicts, thanks also to the contribution of Vatican diplomacy.
“When I heard the news that the agreement would be signed in March, I said to
the Lord: “’Make it so that we arrive at March, that we arrive with this good
intention, because little things are lacking, but there is the will on both
sides,” said the Holy Father, confirming that he was “very happy” and that he
felt part of this historic process. “I spoke twice with President Santos, but
not only I; the Holy See is very open to help.”
Refugees: “Sooner or later walls collapse. A
solution must be found”
Not lacking in the interview was a
reference to the crisis of migrants in the whole of Europe. Asked by a woman
journalist about the ‘walls” erected in some countries of the Old World,
Francis cut short: You know how walls end up .... All walls collapse: today,
tomorrow and after 100 years, but they collapse. A wall isn’t a solution. At
present Europe is in difficulty, it’s true, but we must be intelligent,” that
is, we must find a solution to this strong migratory wave through “dialogue
between the countries.”
French raids in Syria: “I don’t know the
political situation, but death and blood must be avoided”
In regard to France’s first bombings of
ISIS positions in Syria, which got underway yesterday, the Pope didn’t have
much to say: ‘I heard the news day before yesterday and I haven’t read ... I
really don’t know the situation well, I’ve heard that Russia has a position and
the United States is not yet clear.” However, he affirmed, “I don’t know what
to say to you, but when I hear the word bombing, death, blood, I repeat what I
said to Congress and to the United Nations: these things must be avoided. I
don’t judge the political situation because I don’t know it.”
China: “I love the Chinese people, I would
like to go to them”
There was also room in the conversation for
a thought on China – “great nation which contributes to the world a great
culture and many good things.” As in his return flight from Korea, Pope Francis
confirmed his desire to go to the former Heavenly Empire because, he said, “I
love the Chinese people, I love them, I hope that there will be a possibility
to have good relations, that we have contacts, that we talk, that we go
forward. For me -- he added --, it would be a joy to have China as a friend.”
“Is the Pope a star? No, stars fall. He is,
better, ‘Servant of the servants of God’”
The last question was somewhat provocative:
“Is it good for the Church that the Pope is a star?” “You know what the title
was that Popes used and that must be used? Servant of the servants of God,”
Francis responded. “He is somewhat different from a star.” “Stars, -- he
continued --, are beautiful to look at; I like to look at them in the summer
when the sky is serene, but the Pope must be, he must be the ‘Servant of the
servants of God.’” Also because “how many stars we have seen, which then are
extinguished and fall; they are a passing thing. Instead, to be Servant of the
servants of God, this is good and it doesn’t pass.”