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Pope Francis considers corruption a “deep problem” for the Church, whose roots lie in the past. Clergymen and many lay people, whom the Pope called “false friends of the Church”, had squandered the assets of the Church.
These assets do not belong to the Vatican, but to the faithful, the Pope said in an interview with the Italian news agency ADNKronos on Friday. Already in the Gospel Jesus had given people the choice: “Either you follow God or money. This is what Jesus said. You cannot follow both,” said the Pope.
“The Church has always been a casta meretrix , a sinner. At least a part of the Church, because the vast majority follows the right path,” said the Pope.
Slow progress
Progress in “eradicating the weeds of corruption” is slow. “There are no specific strategies, the principle is trivial, simple, you have to continue and not stop, you have to take small but concrete steps,” said Pope Francis in the interview published on Friday.
The Vatican was repeatedly shaken by financial scandals. Among other things, these concerned non-transparent real estate investments in London. It took five years to get to today’s point, for example the legal reform process, the Pope said. He had had to overcome resistance, and new managers had been appointed at the Vatican Bank IOR. “In short, I had to change many things, and many will change very soon,” said Francis.
Francis declared that he did not feel alone in his efforts to reform the Curia. “There are many people who risk much more than I do, who put their lives at risk, who fight for their convictions because they know that they are in the truth and that the path they have taken is the right one, despite thousands of difficulties and natural resistances,” said Francis.
Benedict XVI “like father and brother
Francis denied conflicts with his predecessor Benedict XVI “At the beginning of my pontificate I visited Benedict. At the handover of office he presented me with a large box. Everything is in it, the files with the difficult situations. I have come so far, I have intervened in this situation, I have removed these people. Now it is your turn,” Francis said. He had continued Benedict’s work.
“Benedict is for me a father and a brother. I visit him often. If I see him less recently, it is because I don’t want to tire him. Our relationship is really good, we talk about the things that need to be done,” said Francis. “There are no problems between us, then everyone can say and think what they want. It was even said that Benedict and I were arguing about the grave we would be entitled to after our death,” said the Pope.
Source: ORF.at/agencies. Picture: pixabay.com
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