He’s baack!…

Francis Interview No. 8

“Violence in the Name of God does not correspond to our Time”; “Very concerned about Unemployment Rate of Young People”; “My Prayer is Jewish [first], then I take the Eucharist, which is Christian”

After a 2-month hiatus, “Pope” Francis has returned with yet another interview. According to our reckoning, it is the eighth of its kind since the Argentinian layman Jorge Bergoglio usurped the papal office on March 13, 2013.

Speaking to Enrique Simmerman of the Spanish daily La Vanguardia, Francis answered sundry questions posed to him about war, the economy, society, fundamentalism, his relations with the Jews, Pius XII, Benedict XVI’s resignation, and more. The Italian rocking nun “Suor Cristina” did not come up in the interview.

CLICK HERE TO READ INTERVIEW IN ENGLISH

(For the Spanish original, click here)

Highlights:

  • “Violence in the name of God does not correspond with our time. It’s something ancient. With historical perspective, one has to say that Christians, at times, have practiced it. When I think of the Thirty Years War, there was violence in the name of God. Today it is unimaginable, right?”
  • “You can’t understand the Gospel without poverty, but we have to distinguish it from pauperism.”
  • “The rate of unemployment is very worrisome to me, which in some countries is over 50%. Someone told me that 75 million young Europeans under 25 years of age are unemployed. That is an atrocity.”
  • “ think that inter-religious dialogue needs to deepen in this, in Christianity’s Jewish root and in the Christian flowering of Judaism. I understand it is a challenge, a hot potato, but it can be done as brothers. I pray every day the divine office every day with the Psalms of David. We do the 150 psalms in one week. My prayer is Jewish and I have the Eucharist, which is Christian.”
  • “Pope Benedict [XVI] has made a very significant act. He has opened the door, has created an institution, that of the of the eventual popes emeritus…. I will do the same as him, asking the Lord to enlighten me when the time comes and that he tell me what I have to do, and and he will tell me for sure.”

Here is a collection of links to stories covering this new interview:

At the end of the interview, Bergoglio answers the question how he would like to be remembered in history. He says he wants people to say of him: “He was a good guy. He did what he could; he was not so bad.”

Image source: shutterstock.com
License: paid

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