Pope Francis: «Doctors who offer abortions are hitmen». And on Lebanon: «Disproportionate defense is immoral»

Three days in Luxembourg and Belgium, in the heart of Europe secularized. Shortly after taking off from Bruxelleson flight SN1191, Francis joins the journalists at the back of the plane and looks peaceful. He smiles when he is reminded of the unprecedented stop he took for a coffee in Luxembourg, «that one at the bar is a joke, the next one will be the pizzeria». But in the end, after answering the questions, his face becomes sad, before taking his leave there is one more thing he wants to say: «Those people missing in the Canary Islands, it pains me. Today many, many migrants seeking freedom are lost at sea or near the coasts… Let’s think of Crotone, a hundred meters away… I think of this. It’s worth cryingThis”.

Your Holiness, We have read about the bombs for the targeted assassination of Nasrallah. There are thousands of displaced people, many dead. Do you think that Israel has perhaps gone further, into Lebanon and Gaza?
«Every day I call the parish of Gaza. There are more than six hundred people in there, and they tell me the things that happen, even the cruelties. And what you tell me… I didn’t really understand how things happened, but the defense must always be proportionate to the attack. When there is something disproportionate, a dominating tendency that goes beyond morality shows itself. A country that forcibly does these things – I’m talking about any country – in such a “superlative” way, are immoral actions. Even in war there is a morality to be safeguarded. War is immoral but the rules of war imply some morality. When this is not done, we see the “bad blood” of these things, let’s say in Argentina.”

His words on the tomb of King Baudouin, regarding abortion, caused astonishment in Luxembourg. Were they linked to the beatification process?
«Amazement is the beginning of philosophy, all right. They are all rights, lives. The King was courageous, faced with a death law he did not sign and resigned. It takes courage, a politician with pants, to do this. He gave a message and he did it because he is a saint. He is not yet a saint but the beatification process will continue, because we have had proof of this.”

And how can the right to life and the woman’s right to live without suffering coincide?
«Women have the right to life, theirs and the lives of their children. Let’s not forget to say this: an abortion is murder. Science tells you that at the month of conception all the organs are already complete. A human being is killed. The doctors who lend themselves to this, allow me the word, are hitmen. And there’s no arguing with that. A human life is taken. And women have the right to protect life. Another thing is contraceptive methods. This is something else, don’t get confused, I’m only talking about abortion now. And there’s no arguing with that. This is the truth.”

In Belgium he had a long meeting with a group of victims of sexual abuse. Often in their stories there are cries of desperation about the lack of transparency in the procedures, the closed doors, the silence towards them, the slowness of disciplinary actions, the cover-ups you spoke about today, the problems regarding compensation for the damages suffered. In the end, things only seem to change when they manage to talk to her, in person. In Brussels the victims also made a series of requests. How do you intend to proceed?

/>«I listened to the abused. I think it’s a duty. Some say that according to statistics, 40-46 percent of those abused are in the family and in the neighborhood, only 3 percent in the Church. But I don’t care about that, I take the Church ones. We have a responsibility to help the abused and take care of them. Some need psychological treatment, we need to help them. We also talk about compensation because it exists in civil law. I think it’s 50 thousand euros in Belgium, it’s too low. It’s not something that is needed. I think that’s the number but I’m not sure. But we must take care of abused people and punish abusers, because abuse is not a sin of today that perhaps won’t exist tomorrow… It is a psychiatric illness and for this reason we must put them in treatment and control them. An abuser cannot be left free in normal life, with responsibilities in parishes and schools. Some bishops gave the priests who did this, after the trial and conviction, work for example in the library, but without contact with children in schools or parishes. But we have to get on with this. I told the Belgian bishops not to be afraid and to move forward, forward. Shame is covering up, yes this is shame.”

Wouldn’t it be better, perhaps, to create a special department in the Vatican?
«There is a department in the Vatican. There is a structure, the president is now a Colombian bishop for abuse cases. There is a commission that created Cardinal O’Malley. This works. And all the things are received in the Vatican and discussed. I too have received the abused in the Vatican and I give strength so that we can move forward.”

After the meeting in Leuven, a statement was released in which the Catholic university “deplores the conservative positions expressed by Pope Francis on the role of women in society”.
«This document was made at the time I spoke, it was “pre-made”, and this is not moral. I always talk about the dignity of women and I say something that I cannot say to men: the Church is woman. Masculinising the Church, masculinising women is not human, it is not Christian. Indeed, the woman – I always say – is more important than men, because the Church is woman, the Church is the bride of Jesus. If this seems conservative to those ladies, I am Carlo Gardell. It is not clear. I see that there is a dull mind that does not want to hear about this. Woman is equal to man, indeed, in the life of the Church, woman it is superior, because the Church is female. On the ministry, the mysticism of the woman is greater than the ministry. There is a great theologian who has done studies on this: which is greater, the Petrine ministry or the Marian ministry? the Marian ministry is great because it is a ministry of unity that involves, the other is a ministry of leadership. The motherhood of the Church is a woman’s motherhood. The ministry is a very minor ministry, given to accompany the faithful, always within motherhood. Various theologians have studied this and saying this is a real thing, I won’t say modern, but real. It’s not outdated. An exaggerated feminism that means that women are chauvinistic does not work. It’s one thing that machismo isn’t right, it’s another thing that feminism isn’t right. What goes is the female Church that is greater than the priestly ministry. And you don’t think about this sometimes.”

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