Benedict was greeted warmly by cardinals when he made a surprise appearance at a Vatican concistory in St Peter’s, held to appoint new cardinals last month.
Francis argued that retired popes should have an active role similar to retired bishops, who often continue to represent the Church after they retire at 75.
The position of emeritus bishop, he said, “is an institution,” adding, “The same thing needs to happen for the emeritus pope.”
Francis said Benedict “is discreet, humble and doesn’t want to disturb,” but added, “We spoke and we decided together that it would be better if he saw people, got out and participated in the life of the church.”
Turning to his own popularity and the stories emerging about his informal behaviour, Francis warned his admirers against creating “a certain mythology around Pope Francis,” and denied the story that he creeps out of the Vatican at night to give food to tramps.
On Wednesday, a new Italian weekly magazine was issued devoted to Pope Francis, while graffiti has appeared in Rome depicting Francis as a superhero.
“Portraying the pope as a kind of superman, a type of star, seems offensive,” he said. “The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps tranquilly and has friends like everyone. A normal person.”
He did however reveal more details about his extraordinary life. Asked if he had ever been in love, Francis referred back to statements he has made about having a girlfriend when he was 17, but added, “At the seminary, a girl turned my head for a week,” adding, “These were the things of young people. I spoke about it with my confessor.”
Asked about his habit of phoning people who write to him, Francis said: “When one calls it is because you want to speak, you have a question to ask, an advice to ask.” He singled out an 80 year old widower, who had lost her son, who he calls once a month. “She is happy and I get to be a priest, which I like.”
Turning to the child abuse scandals which have plagued the church and brought fierce criticism recently from the UN for the way that senior prelates covered up for abusive priests, Francis defended the Church’s behaviour to the hilt.
“The Catholic Church is possibly the only public institution to have acted with transparency and responsibility,” he said. No one else has done more. Yet the Church is the only one to be attacked.”
Pope Francis drops F-bomb
Pope Francis inadvertently demonstrated his own fallibility during an address in St Peter’s Square when he mistakenly said the Italian word for “f---”
Pope Francis inadvertently demonstrated his own fallibility during an address in St Peter’s Square when he mistakenly said the Italian word for “f**k”.
In the 12 months since he was elected, the Argentinean
Pope, who worked with the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires being before made pontiff, has shown a healthy sense of humour and an unerring ability to connect with ordinary people.
But he accidentally went a little too far in using the language of the street after mispronouncing the word “caso”, which means example, as “cazzo” – Italian for f--- or, in other contexts, cock.
“If each of us were to accumulate wealth not only for ourselves but to put at the service of others, in this f--- [pause], in this case God’s providence would manifest itself in this gesture of solidarity,” he told a large crowd, delivering his ‘Angelus’ address from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.
The 77-year-old Jesuit Pope corrected himself almost immediately after making the gaffe
during the audience at the Vatican on Sunday, but it was posted by Italians on YouTube and other social media and has since spread round the world.
People who watched the clip seemed amused by it but ready to forgive the Pope.
“Too funny! Pope Francis is great,” wrote one Italian man on YouTube, while another remarked: “What a gaffe, but it makes him one of us even more”.
Another YouTube user cited the famous quote by Alexander Pope, the 18th century English poet: “To err is human, to forgive, divine.”
A non-Italian wrote “Poor guy, as a foreigner I know how hard it can be to distinguish between the ‘ts’ and ‘dz’ sounds.”
The Pope regained his composure quickly and went on to pray for peace in Ukraine, a country which he said found itself “in a delicate situation”.
“I make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to support every initiative on behalf of dialogue and concord,” he said, before wishing the crowds “a good Sunday and a good lunch,” as is his weekly custom.
"Francis says he has met "many Marxists who are good people." But how can they be "good"? "None is good but God alone," Our Blessed Lord says (Lk 18:19); meaning He is the source of all goodness and holiness, and we can only justly be considered "good" inasmuch as we have the Divine Life in us, that is, sanctifying grace. But no one can be a Marxist and be in the state of sanctifying grace, for Marxism is a form of Socialism: "Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist" (Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, par. 120)."
The Justice of God: Red Cocaine - Red Mafiya
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