Answering a question during a press conference on his return trip from Asia and Oceania, Francis renewed his desire to visit Beijing. His impressions of Singapore, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, the four nations he visited. On the war in Gaza: “It doesn’t seem to me that steps are being taken to make peace.” On the presidential elections in the United States: “On abortion and immigrants, both against life, each one in conscience chooses the lesser evil.”
Vatican City () – “I am pleased with the dialogue with China, the result is good, even for the appointment of bishops we are working with good will.” At a press conference with journalists held on the long journey back to Rome yesterday afternoon from his 12-day trip to Asia and Oceania, Pope Francis – in response to a question – gave this assessment of the provisional agreement between the Holy See and Beijing on the appointment of bishops, which expires at the end of next month and whose renewal is awaited.
Asked about his dream of visiting Beijing, the Pope replied: “China is a desire for me, in the sense that I would like to visit China, because it is a great country; I admire China, I respect China. It is a country with an ancient culture, a capacity for dialogue, for mutual understanding that goes beyond the different systems of government it has had. I believe that China is a promise and a hope for the Church.” As for Beijing’s possible contribution to the solution of the conflicts that stain the world with blood, Francis recalled the mission he entrusted to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, which “is moving in this direction and also has relations with China.”
The press conference was an opportunity to answer questions from journalists from some of the countries the Pope has visited in recent days. He told those in Singapore that he was amazed by the reality he had seen: “a developed, clean country, educated people, a city with large skyscrapers and also a great interreligious culture. I also saw the skyscrapers for the workers: they are also well built and clean, and I liked that very much. I was struck by the international role of a capital that attracts cultures.” Although he noted that in Singapore – unlike in East Timor – he saw few children: “Perhaps this is something to be learned, because the future is children.”
To those who pointed out that he did not mention the death penaltyto which Singapore returned after the pandemic, the Pope replied that it had not occurred to him. But the death penalty does not work – he added -. Little by little we must try to eliminate it. Many countries have the law, but they do not carry out the sentence.’
An East Timorese journalist asked him if in his words about “Crocodiles threaten local culture» At the end of the Mass in Taci Tolu he also referred to the sects, which are growing in the country. «I am not talking about this – the Pope replied – but it could be so. All religions must be respected, but a distinction must be made between religion and sect. Religion is universal, any religion; a sect is restrictive, it is a small group that always has another intention.»
Of Papua New Guinea he praised “the art, the dances, the other poetic expressions. This impressed me a lot. The missionaries I visited are in the forest, they go to the forest to work.” To an Indonesian journalist who raised the question of the exploitation of natural resources, which too often benefits small oligarchies, Francis replied that it is a problem common to many “developing nations.” Perhaps one of the things that needs to be developed is precisely this: social relations. But I was glad to visit your country.” As for the nations that do not comply with the commitments of the Paris Agreement on the fight against climate change, the pontiff regretted that on the subject of the environmental crisis “there is talk, there is talk but nothing is done. This is my impression.”
On the war in Gaza, with the ever-new news of bloody massacres, Francis commented: “When you see the bodies of murdered children, when you see that, supposing there are guerrillas, a school is being bombed: this is ugly. I apologize for saying this, but sometimes it does not seem to me that measures are being taken to make peace.”
In connection with the US presidential election, a journalist asked him what advice he would give to a Catholic voter who has to decide between a candidate who is in favour of abortion and another who would like to deport 11 million immigrants. “Both are against life, the one who expels migrants and the one who kills children,” Pope Francis replied. “In political morality it is often said that not voting is bad: one must vote. And one must choose the lesser evil. I do not know which is the lesser evil, each one thinks and chooses in conscience.”
Finally, a question raised the issue of sexual abuse in the Church, citing what is emerging in France about the figure of Abbé Pierre, but also the case of the former Archbishop of Dili Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, which many thought of. when the pontiff referred to this issue in East Timor. ‘Good people, people who do good and then, after all the good they have done, you see that they are ugly sinners,’ Francis commented. ‘This is our human condition. We must not say ‘let’s cover it up, let’s cover it up, so that it can’t be seen.’ Public sins are public and must be condemned. The work against abuse is something that we all have to do: but not only against sexual abuse. Against all kinds of abuse: social abuse, educational abuse, changing people’s mentality, taking away their freedom… Abuse is something demonic, because it destroys the dignity of the person, it tries to destroy what we all are: the image of God. I am glad when these cases come to light.’
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