Rome – Pope Francis has attacked the “corruption” of restorationist movements within the Church and said the Second Vatican Council has not yet been fully implemented.
In his latest surprise media interview, with a Spanish language outlet that appeared at the same time he’s in Lisbon celebrating World Youth Day, the Argentine Pontiff hit out at the “prophets of confusion” undermining the mission of the Church.
He said people with “right-wing” ideologies were the most dangerous faction in the Church and he called for a generation of priests who played soccer instead of going into communities to preach .
"We need normal seminarians, with their problems, who play soccer, and who don’t go to the neighbourhoods to dogmatise,” Pope Francis said.
Describing himself as “a stone in the shoe” for people who are opposed to his ecclesiastical and political vision, the Pope told <em>Vida Nueva</em> that he did not feel the time is ripe for a Third Vatican Council, in part because “Vatican II still has not been implemented”.
The Holy Father also condemned ideological movements in the Church which, he said, “dress up in a restorationist air, with a lot of apparent mystique, but also a lot of corruption”.
Francis also expressed frustration that he was unable to reform the Church as much as he would have preferred.
His reform efforts to date in the Church have revealed “a certain impotence” in that there’s only so far “over the limit” it’s possible to go, he told the magazine, admitting that “I have not yet dared to put an end to the culture of a [royal] court in the Curia”.
Referring to criticism he’s received for gestures such as regularly meeting transgender persons at his Wednesday audience, Francis cited the example of Jesus in the Gospels, who spent a large amount of time in dialogue with people who weren’t necessarily his followers.
“The first time they came and saw me, they left crying, saying I had given them a hand, a kiss, as if I had done something exceptional for them,” he said.
“But they are children of God! He still loves you just the way you are. Jesus teaches us not to set limits.”
On international affairs, Francis said he is a determined opponent of imperialism in all forms, especially in Latin America.
“Imperialism is very strong, and America is the victim of empires of all kinds,” the Pope said, without citing any specific empire
He said that the answer is to focus on the people as “protagonists of their own destiny,” though not on populism.
“I speak badly of any empire, of whatever sort,” the Pope said. “For this reason, I know that I am a stone in the shoe for more than one when I report these situations, so they have to somehow drive away the pain of the stone.”
In respect of World Youth Day, the Pope said that any pastoral approach driven by ideology, “of the left, the right or the centre … is sick from the beginning, and hurts the young.”
“Right now, groups linked in some way to right-wing ideologies are perhaps the most dangerous,” Francis said.
“I fear intellectual youth groups, those who summon young people to reflect and then they fill them with weird ideas,” he said.
On other fronts, Francis said:
<a href="https://www.vidanuevadigital.com/"><strong><em>The full text of the interview, in Spanish and broken into various sections, can be found on the Vida Nueva site by clicking this link.</em></strong></a>
Founded in Spain in 1958, <em>Vida Nueva</em> is a weekly print publication that also operates an active daily web site offering news and commentary on Catholic affairs. The platform’s editorial line is seen as more or less centrist.
<em>(Photo: Pope Francis receiving a football from Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (CNS))</em>
