VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXV - # 215   
   DATE 01-12-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope's return flight to Rome: fundamentalism is a sickness that afflicts   
   all religions   
   - Cardinal Parolin at the COP 21: Reach a global and transformational agreement   
   - How did the Council Fathers experience Vatican Council II?   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope's return flight to Rome: fundamentalism is a sickness that afflicts   
   all religions   
    Vatican City, 1 December 2015 (VIS) - During his return flight following his   
   apostolic trip to Africa, the Pope answered questions from the journalists   
   accompanying him on the aircraft. The following are extensive extracts from   
   questions posed and the Holy Father's answers regarding his impressions of   
   Africa, the Vatileaks case, his upcoming trips and COP 21.   
    The first question was from a Kenyan journalist who wanted to know the Pope's   
   views on the stories told by poor families in the Kangemi slum regarding   
   exclusion from fundamental human rights due to avarice and corruption.   
    Pope Francis: "I understand that 80 per cent of the world's wealth is in the   
   hands of 17 per cent of the population; I do not know if this is true, but it   
   is   
   likely, as this is how things are. ... It is an economic system in which money,   
   the god of money, is at the centre. ... And if things continue in this way, the   
   world will not change. ... In Kangemi, where I spoke clearly about rights, I   
   felt   
   great suffering. ... Yesterday, for example, I visited a paediatric hospital,   
   the   
   only one in Bangui and in the country! And in intensive care they do not have   
   the instruments to provide oxygen. There were many malnourished children, many.   
   And the doctor told me, 'Here the majority will die, as they have malaria and   
   they are malnourished. ... And those people who hold 80 per cent of the world's   
   wealth - what do they think of this?"   
    The second question regarded the most memorable moment of the Pope's trip to   
   Africa.   
    Pope Francis: "For me Africa was a surprise. I thought: God surprises us, but   
   also Africa surprises! ... They have a great sense of welcome. ... Then, each   
   country has its own identity. Kenya is a little more modern, more developed.   
   Uganda has the identity of martyrs: the Ugandan people, both Catholic and   
   Anglican, venerate the martyrs. ... The courage of giving life for an ideal.   
   And   
   the Central African Republic: there is the desire for peace, reconciliation,   
   and   
   forgiveness".   
    The third question touched on the issued of Vatileaks and the importance of   
   the   
   press in denouncing corruption wherever it encounters it.   
    Pope Francis: "A free press, both secular and confessional, but professional   
   ... is important to me, because the denouncement of injustice and corruption is   
   good work. ... And then those who are responsible must do something: form a   
   judgement, constitute a tribunal. But the professional press must say   
   everything, without falling prey to the three most common sins: disinformation,   
   or telling half a story but omitting the other half; slander, or when the press   
   is unprofessional and seeks to soil others with or without truth; and   
   defamation, or rather, to damage a person's reputation ... and these are the   
   three   
   defects that undermine the professionalism of the press. We need   
   professionalism".   
    A French journalist asked whether, faced with the danger of fundamentalism,   
   religious leaders should intervene in the political arena.   
    Pope Francis: "If this means participating in politics, no. Being a priest, a   
   pastor, an imam, a rabbi - this is the vocation of a religious leader. But   
   political influence is exercised indirectly by preaching values, true values,   
   and one of the greatest values is fraternity between us. ... Fundamentalism is   
   a   
   sickness that we find in all religions. Among Catholics there are many, not a   
   few, many, who believe to hold the absolute truth and they go ahead by harming   
   others with slander and defamation, and they do great harm. ... And it must be   
   combated. Religious fundamentalism is not truly religious. Why? Because God is   
   missing. It is a form of idolatry, in the same way as worshipping money is   
   idolatry. Being political in the sense of convincing these people who have this   
   tendency is a policy that we religious leaders must adopt".   
    An Italian journalist asked why two of the defendants in the Vatileaks case,   
   Msgr. Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, had been appointed.   
    Pope Francis: "I think it was a mistake. Msgr. Vallejo Balda entered via the   
   role he had has had until now. He was secretary of the Prefecture of Economic   
   Affairs. I am not sure how he entered but if I am not mistaken, it was he who   
   presented [Chaouqui] as a woman who knew the world of commercial relations. ...   
   They worked and once they had finished their task, the members of the   
   Commission, COSEA, remained in various places in the Vatican. The same applied   
   to Vallejo Balda. Ms. Chaouqui did not remain in the Vatican because she   
   entered   
   for the purposes of the Commission and then left. Some say that she was angry   
   about this, but the judges will tell us the truth of the situation. ... For me   
   [what came out] was not a surprise, it did not cause me to lose any sleep,   
   because they have shown the work that began with the Commission of Cardinals -   
   the 'C9' - to seek out corruption and things that are not going well. And here   
   I   
   want to say something ... on the word 'corruption'. Thirteen days before the   
   death   
   of St. John Paul II ... in the Via Crucis, the then-cardinal Ratzinger spoke   
   about   
   corruption in the Church. He was the first to denounce it. And when St. John   
   Paul II died, in the 'pro eligendo Pontefice' Mass - he was the dean - he spoke   
   about the same thing, and we elected him for this, his liberty to say these   
   things. Since then there has been an air of corruption in the Vatican. ... With   
   respect to the judgement, I have given the concrete accusations to the judges,   
   because that is what is important for the defence, the formulation of the   
   accusations. I have not read them, the concrete, technical accusations. I would   
   have liked this to finish before 8 December, for the Year of Mercy, but I do   
   not   
   think this will be possible, as I would like the lawyers who defend them to   
   have   
   to time to defend; they must have the freedom to prepare a full defence".   
    A South African correspondent commented on the devastation caused by AIDS in   
   Africa, where the epidemic continues, and where prevention is still the key. He   
   asked the Pope whether or not it was time to change the Church's position on   
   the   
   use of condoms.   
    Pope Francis: "The question seems to me to be too narrow, or rather a partial   
   question. Yes, it is one of the methods; the morality of the Church finds   
   itself   
   before a perplexity: it is the fifth or the sixth commandment, defending life,   
   or that the sexual relationship must be open to life? ... This questions makes   
   me   
   think about what they did to Jesus once. 'Tell me Master, is it lawful to heal   
   on the Sabbath?'. It is obligatory to heal! ... But malnutrition, the   
   exploitation   
   of people, slave labour, the lack of drinking water: these are the problems.   
   Let   
   us not ask if we can use this sticking plaster or another for a small wound.   
   The   
   great wound is social injustice, the injustice of the environment, the   
   injustice   
   that I have mentioned such as exploitation and malnutrition. ... I do not like   
   to   
   make reference to such specific cases when people die for lack of water or   
   hunger, because of their habitat. ... When everyone has been healed, when there   
   are no longer these tragic diseases caused by mankind, either by social   
   injustice or to earn more money. ... Then we can ask the question, 'is it   
   lawful   
   to heal on the Sabbath?'. Why do they continue the production and trafficking   
   of   
   weapons? Wars are the greatest cause of mortality. ... I would say, do not   
   think   
   about whether or not it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. I would like to say   
   to   
   humanity: ensure justice, and when everyone is healed, when there is no more   
   injustice in this world, we can talk about the Sabbath".   
    An Italian journalist wanted to know if the Pope had considered going to   
   Armenia to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the tragedy that afflicted the   
   population, as he did last year in Turkey.   
    "Last year I promised the three Patriarchs that I would go: the promise is   
   there. I do not know if it will be possible to do so, but the promise stands.   
   ...   
   As for wars, wars are due to ambition. I am talking about wars that are not a   
   legitimate defence against an unjust aggressor, but rather wars, wars are an   
   'industry'! ... War is a business, a weapons business. Terrorists, do they make   
   their weapons? Perhaps the odd small one. Who gives them the weapons for   
   warfare? There is a network of interests involved, and behind this there is   
   money, or power: imperial power, or economic power. ... But we have been at war   
   for many years, some times more than others: the pieces of the war are smaller,   
   then they become bigger. ... I don't know what the 'Vatican position' is, but   
   what   
   I think is that wars are a sin against humanity. They destroy humanity, they   
   are   
   the cause of exploitation, of human trafficking, of so many things. ... Wars   
   are   
   not of God. God is the God of peace".   
    Another issue was whether the Conference on Climate Change in Paris will be   
   the   
   beginning to a solution to the environmental problem.   
    Pope Francis: "I am not sure, but I can say that it is now or never. Every   
   year   
   the problems grow more serious. ... We are at the brink of suicide, to put it   
   bluntly. And I am sure that almost all those who are in Paris, at the COP 21,   
   are aware of this and want to do something. ... I am trustful. I trust these   
   people, that they will do something; because, I would say, I am sure that they   
   have the goodwill to do so, and I hope it is so. And I pray for this".   
    An American journalist asked what he thought Islam the teachings of the   
   Prophet   
   Muhammed had to say to today's world.   
    "It is possible to enter into dialogue; they have values. Many values. And   
   these values are constructive. ... Prayer, for example, and fasting. Religious   
   values, and also other values. One cannot cancel out a religion because there   
   are some groups, or many groups, at a certain historic moment, of   
   fundamentalists. It is true that there have always been wars between religions   
   throughout history, always. We too must ask forgiveness. ... And the Thirty   
   Years   
   War, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. ... We too must ask forgiveness, for   
   fundamentalist extremism and for religious wars".   
    The Pope's visit to Mexico and other Latin American countries was the theme of   
   the next question.   
    Pope Francis: "I will go to Mexico. First of all, I would like to visit Our   
   Lady, the Mother of America, and so I will go to Mexico City. If it were not   
   for   
   the Virgin of Guadalupe, I would not go to Mexico City, as I would prefer to   
   visit three or four cities that had not been visited by Popes. But I will go to   
   visit Our Lady. Then I will go to Chiapas, in the South, on the border with   
   Guatemala; then I will go to Morelia, and almost certainly, on the way back   
   towards Rome, I will spend a day or less in Ciudad Juarez. With regard to   
   visiting other Latin American countries, I have been invited to go to Aparecida   
   in 2019, the other Patroness of America, for Portuguese speakers. ... and from   
   there perhaps I will be able to visit another country - but I do not know,   
   there   
   are no plans".   
    The final question was from a Kenyan journalist, who asked: "What do you say   
   to   
   the world, which thinks that Africa is simply ravaged by wars and full of   
   destruction?"   
    Pope Francis: "Africa is a victim. Africa has always been exploited by other   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)