"So many are stunned but have not read well. It takes good listening”. Meeting with Roman priests, Pope Francis spoke for the first time on the "Fiducia Supplicans" statement in which the former Holy Office led by Cardinal Fernandéz, with his assent, gave the green light to "the possibility of blessing couples in irregular and same-sex situations", though "without validating their status" or changing the doctrine on marriage. Controversy ensued from traditionalists who cried "heresy" and revolt from more conservative episcopates, starting with those in Africa. Francis explains that the statement is about gay people, not organizations, "if the LGBT association comes, no. We bless people, not sin”. And then "we have to forgive a lot, we are all sinners," he recalls, "I have never denied absolution". Above all, the Pope adds that conflicts must be "managed" and not "hidden", and condemns the fury of "hooligans" who "do not fit into the harmony that the Spirit gives to the Church”.
|