VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 35   
   DATE 19-02-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - Interview with the Pope on his return flight from Mexico   
      
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    Interview with the Pope on his return flight from Mexico   
    Vatican City, 19 February 2016 (VIS) - As is customary in his apostolic trips,   
   the Pope answered questions posed by journalists during the return flight to   
   Rome, on his visit to Mexico and his encounter in Havana, Cuba with the   
   Patriarch Kirill. The Holy Father addressed a series of themes that ranged from   
   his Mexican experience to the problem of paedophilia, immigration to the   
   European situation, as well as the repercussions of the document signed with   
   the   
   Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the law on civil unions and the various   
   problems linked to the family. He also expressed his hope to meet with Imam of   
   the Mosque of Al-Azhar and revealed that he would like to visit China.   
    The following is a summary of the questions asked by journalists and the   
   replies given by the Pope:   
    Question: "Holy Father, thousands of people are missing in Mexico, but the   
   case   
   of the Ayotzinapa 43 is emblematic. I would like to ask you why you did not   
   meet   
   with their families and also if you could offer a message to the families of   
   the   
   thousands of missing persons".   
    Pope Francis: "My messages make continual reference to assassinations, deaths,   
   and lives taken by all these bands of drug traffickers, and by traffickers of   
   human beings. I spoke about these problems as one of the wounds from which   
   Mexico suffers. There have been some attempts to receive people, and there were   
   many groups, even opposed to each other, with internal battles. Therefore I   
   preferred to say that at the Mass I would have seen everyone, in the Mass at   
   Juarez if they preferred, or at another, but I was open to this eventuality. It   
   was practically impossible to receive all the groups who, on the other hand,   
   were opposed to each other. It is a difficult situation to understand clearly,   
   for me, as a foreigner. But I believe that Mexican society is a victim of this:   
   of crimes, of this tendency to make people disappear, to discard them. I spoke   
   about this in my discourses where I could. It is a great source of pain that I   
   bear, as this people does not deserve to experience a tragedy like this".   
    Question: "The theme of paedophilia, as you know, has very dangerous and   
   painful roots in Mexico. The case of Fr. Maciel has left important scars,   
   especially for the victims. The victims continue to feel that they are not   
   protected by the Church. ...What do you think about this idea that when priests   
   are discovered in a case of this nature, they are to be moved to another   
   parish,   
   and nothing else. How do you regard this matter?".   
    Pope Francis: "A bishop who moves a priest to a different parish if he detects   
   a case of paedophilia is without conscience and the best thing for him to do   
   would be to resign. Secondly, I would like to return to the Maciel case. Here I   
   would like to render homage to a man who battled in a moment in which he did   
   not   
   have the strength to impose himself, to the point of being able to do so:   
   Cardinal Ratzinger, a man who had all the documentation. When he was prefect of   
   the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he had all the documentation in   
   his hands, he carried out investigations ... but was not able continue up to   
   the   
   end. But if you remember, ten days before St. John Paul II died, that Good   
   Friday Via Crucis, he said to all the Church that it was necessary to clean up   
   all the 'filth' in the Church. In the Mass Pro Eligendo Pontifice - he was no   
   fool, he knew he was a candidate - he did not try to conceal his position, he   
   said exactly the same thing. That is, he was the courageous man who helped   
   greatly to open this door. Thirdly, we are working hard. With the Cardinal   
   Secretary of State, in discussion, and also with the group of nine cardinal   
   counsellors, I decided to appoint a third secretariat adjunct to the   
   Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is occupied exclusively with   
   these cases, because the Congregation is unable to manage them with all it has   
   to do, and therefore this secretariat knows how to manage this. Further more,   
   the Court of Appeal was constituted, presided over by Msgr. Scicluna, which is   
   dealing with the cases of second instance, on appeal. ... Another thing that is   
   working very well is the Commission for the Protection of Minors. ... With   
   regard   
   to Maciel, returning to the Congregation, action has been taken and now the   
   Congregation, the governance of the Congregation is semi-commissioned, or   
   rather   
   the superior general is elected by the Council, by the General Chapter, but the   
   Vicar is chosen by the Pope. Two general counsellors are elected by the General   
   Chapter and the other two are chosen by the Pope, so that we are able to help   
   them to review old accounts".   
    Question: "You spoke very eloquently about the problems of immigrants. On the   
   other side of the border, however, there is a rather tough electoral campaign   
   in   
   progress. One of the candidates to the White House, the Republican Donald   
   Trump,   
   recently said in an interview that His Holiness is a man of politics or indeed   
   even a pawn in the hands of the Mexican government to favour a policy of   
   immigration. He has declared that, if elected, he intends to construct a 2,500   
   kilometre wall along the border between Mexico and the United States, and to   
   deport eleven million illegal immigrants, thus separating families, and so on.   
   I   
   would like to ask, first of all, what you think of these accusations and   
   whether   
   an American Catholic can vote for such a person".   
    Pope Francis: "I thank God that he has said I am a politician, as Aristotle   
   defined the human being as an 'animal politicus': at least I am a human being!   
   And that I am a pawn ... perhaps, I do not know. I will leave that to your   
   judgement, to the people. A person who thinks only of building walls, wherever   
   that may be, and not bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. With   
   regard to what I would advise, to vote or not to vote: I would not like to   
   become involved. I would say only that this man is not Christian. It is   
   necessary to see if he has said these things, and for this reason I would give   
   the benefit of the doubt".   
    Question: "The encounter with the Russian patriarch Kirill and the signing of   
   the Joint Declaration was acclaimed throughout the world as an historic step.   
   But now, already, in Ukraine the Greek Catholics feel betrayed and speak about   
   a   
   'political document', supporting Russian policy. On the ground, the war of   
   words   
   has broken out again".   
    Pope Francis: "It is as document that is open to discussion. I would also add   
   that Ukraine is a country that is going through a time of war, of suffering,   
   with many interpretations. I have mentioned the Ukrainian people asking many   
   times for prayers and closeness to them, both in the Angelus and in the   
   Wednesday general audiences. But the historical fact of a war - everyone has   
   their own idea: what is this war? Who started it? What must be done? What must   
   not be done? It is clear that this is an historic problem, but also an   
   existential problem for the country, and it speaks of suffering. And it is in   
   this context that I insert this paragraph, and what the faithful say can be   
   understood. [In an interview] the Ukrainian Catholic archbishop Sviatoslav   
   Shevchuk said that many faithful had called or written to him saying they felt   
   profoundly disappointed or betrayed by Rome. It is understandable that a people   
   in that situation feels this way. The document is debatable on this question of   
   Ukraine, but there it is said that the war is to stop and the conflict is to be   
   managed through agreements. I too have personally expressed my hope that the   
   Minsk Accords go ahead, and that what is written with the hand is not cancelled   
   out with the elbow. The Church of Rome and the Pope have always said, 'seek   
   peace'".   
    Question: "The Italian parliament is discussing the law on civil unions, an   
   issue that is giving rise not only to major political conflicts, but also to   
   fierce debate in society and among Catholics".   
    Pope Francis: "Firstly I do not know how things are in the Italian parliament.   
   The Pope does not get involved in Italian politics. At the first meeting I had   
   with the Italian bishops in May 2013, one of the three things I said was: with   
   the Italian government you are on your own. The Pope is for everybody and he   
   cannot get involved in the specific internal politics of a country. This is not   
   the role of the Pope. What I think is what the Church thinks and has so often   
   said - because this is not the first country to have this experience, there are   
   so many - I think what the Church has always said about this".   
    Question: "For several weeks there has been great concern in many Latin   
   American countries, and also in Europe, regarding the Zika virus. The greatest   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)