Sunday, 19 May 2024 12:44 PM EDT
Pope Francis said his conservative critics within the Roman Catholic Church in the United States are trapped in a "suicidal attitude," according to an interview with CBS.
During the April 24 interview with "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, Francis was asked his thoughts on the conservative backlash against his papacy, with many of his critics being American clergy members.
Francis responded by saying a conservative is someone who "clings to something and does not want to see beyond that."
"It is a suicidal attitude," the pontiff said.
"Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box."
Francis has clashed with the conservative wing almost since he was elected as head of the church in 2013.
Moves conservatives have opposed include papal attempts to make the church more welcoming to the LGBT community and to give lay people more responsibility in the church.
When asked during the interview about his decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, the pope replied that the church cannot actually bless the union, as it is against church teaching, but they can bless the individual.
"The blessing is for everyone — for everyone. To bless a homosexual-type union, however, goes against the given rite, against the law of the church. But to bless each person, why not? The blessing is for all. Some people were scandalized by this, but why? Everyone, everyone."
Francis replied when asked about his being more open and accepting than his predecessors that "you have to be open to everything. The church is like that. Everyone, everyone, everyone. That so-and-so is a sinner. Me, too. I am a sinner. Everyone.
"The gospel is for everyone. If the church places a customs officer at the door, that is no longer the church of Christ. Everyone."
Francis last year dismissed a conservative U.S. bishop who was a withering critic of his papacy and said the conservative wing in the U.S. church was "reactionary." He also stripped a conservative American cardinal of some Vatican privileges.
When asked about the state of Texas potentially shutting down a Catholic charity on the U.S.-Mexico border that gives humanitarian aid to migrants, Francis replied that it is "sheer madness."
"To close the border and leave them there, that is madness. The migrant has to be received. Thereafter you see how you're going to deal with them. Maybe you have to send them back. I don't know. But each case ought to be considered humanely, right?"
Regarding surrogacy, Pope Francis said that "in each case, the situation should be carefully and clearly considered, consulting medically and then morally as well. I think there is a general rule in these cases, but you have to go into each case in particular to assess the situation — as long as the moral principle is not skirted."
Newsmax staffer Jeremy Frankel contributed to this report.
© 2024 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
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