In a long conversation with journalists on the return flight from his trip through Asia and Oceania, his longest journey, Pope Francis discussed international politics and the next destinations he will visit, among which he does not exclude the Canary Islands.
Bergoglio was not very clear when asked about the crisis in Venezuela. He limited himself to asking “the leaders to dialogue and make peace.” But he was frank with Maduro’s leadership: “Dictatorships are useless and end badly, sooner or later,” he warned. However, he asked that “the government and the people do everything possible to find a path to peace.”
Regarding the humanitarian drama in Gaza, Francis admitted that he calls “every day to Gaza, to the parish of Gaza,” and deplored “the corpses of murdered children.” “When you see that a school is bombed because of the presumption that there are guerrillas, it is false. “It is ugly,” he said.
“Sometimes people say that this is a defensive war, but I think it is too much and that no steps are being taken to establish peace,” he criticized without mentioning Israel. “In the end, whoever wins the war will suffer a great defeat. War is always a defeat, always, without exception. And we must not forget that,” he concluded.
America’s “lesser evil”
“I am not American and I am not going to vote, but between this lady (Kamala Harris) or that man (Donald Trump), each one does it according to his conscience (…). “Both (candidates) are against life, the one that expels migrants and the one that kills children.” Pope Francis invited this Friday to choose “the lesser evil” during the elections in the United States, assuring that the two candidates do not defend life enough, whether it is that of immigrants or that of unborn children.
“Expelling migrants, not giving them the opportunity to work or find housing is a grave sin,” lamented Francisco, who recalled his trip to the border with Mexico and the episode of the shoes of migrants who died trying to cross it. “There is a flood of migrants arriving from Central America and they are treated like slaves.”
Harris has been criticized for her defense of abortion. “It’s killing a human being (…), the Church does not allow abortion because it is murder and we are clear on that.” “In political morality, it is generally said that not voting is bad. You have to vote and choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil? This lady or this man? I don’t know, let everyone think and do that in conscience,” he stressed.
The Pope also announced that he would not go to Paris after all (the reopening of Notre Dame coincides with the traditional offering to the Immaculate Conception in front of the Spanish embassy), but that he wanted to go to the Canary Islands. “I’m thinking a little bit about going to the Canary Islands, because there are situations of migrants coming from the sea and I would like to be close to the leaders and the people,” he said, without specifying. He also did not specify whether he would ultimately go to the Argentine town of Milei: “It’s something that hasn’t been decided yet. I would like to go there, it’s my city, but I haven’t decided yet. “There are several things to sort out first,” he told reporters.
Regarding relations with Beijing, the Pope expressed satisfaction with the dialogues with China. “The result is good, even for the appointment of bishops, we have worked with good will.” Finally, the Pope said he was happy that cases of pedophilia in the Church had been discovered and, regarding the Abbé Pierre scandal, he defined abuse as “something demonic” that “destroys the dignity of the person.” “Sexual abuse of children, of minors, is a crime, it is a shame,” he concluded.
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