«But it is not one of the gravest sins, because sins of the flesh are not the gravest. The gravest sins are those who have more angelicality, pride, hatred, these are the “. The Pope on the flight that brought him back to Italy or after a five-day trip to Greai and Cyprus, comments on the resignation – which he accepted – of the archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit following a journalistic investigation by Le Ponint which revealed a alleged relationship with a woman. Bergoglio on the plane talked about many topics, including that of Christmas and migrants.
The resignation of the archbishop of Paris: “The chatter condemned him”
«I wonder: what has Aupetit done that is so serious that it has to resign? If we do not know the accusation we cannot condemn. What was the accusation? Who knows? Before answering, I would say do the investigation, because if he was convicted, who convicted him? Public opinion, chatter. What did he do? ‘We don’t know, something.’ If you know why you say it, “the Pope said.” It was a lack of him, a lack against the Sixth Commandment, not total, but of small caresses, massages that he gave to the secretary, this is the accusation, this is the blackmail . So Aupetit is a sinner, as I am, as Peter was. Peter is the bishop on whom Jesus founded the Church. And why had the community of the time accepted a sinful bishop? It was a normal church, she was used to feeling sinful, it was a humble Church. You see that our church is not used to having a sinful bishop, let’s pretend to say my bishop is a saint. But we are all sinners, ”the Pope commented on the resignation, which took place last week, among other things, at the same time as the visit of French President Macron.
Christmas and the distancing of the EU: an anachronism, out of time
Then the theme of the EU document in which references to Christmas were not recommended. «It is an anachronism. In history – he observed – many dictatorships have tried to do these things, we are thinking of Napoleon, or the Nazi dictatorship, the Communist. Today it is a fashion, of a watered down secularism, it is distilled water. But it did not work during history ”, added Francis, also pointing the finger at ideological colonization, of which the EU must not become a vehicle”.
Whoever builds walls loses the sense of history
Finally, the issue of migrants, addressed in Lesbos and Cyprus. «Whoever builds walls loses the sense of history, of his own history, of when he was a slave to another country. Most wall builders have this experience. You can tell me, but governments have a duty to govern and with migrants it is not possible? I say this: every government must clearly say I can receive a certain amount, everyone knows it. Migrants must be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated. If a government cannot do it, it must enter into dialogue with others and this is important in the European Union, which must bring harmony to the distribution of migrants. Think of Lampedusa, Sicily, Cyprus, Greece, migrants arrive and there is no harmony. The EU is unable to create harmony, this harmony between EU countries for distribution is lacking, general harmony is lacking “.