Independent Catholic News (UK)
[Watch an edited film of the press conference here: YouTube]
Francis gave a lengthy press conference on the flight back from Mexico to Rome on Thursday, sharing thoughts on many subjects including pedophile priests, abortion, contraception, abortion, Mexico’s ‘disappeared ones’, the Church in Ukraine and the Zika virus.
Asked about immigration and the threats of US presidential candidate Donald Trump to build walls along the southern border, the Pope said he would not comment on the US elections but in added “a person who thinks only of building walls anywhere – rather than building bridges – is not a Christian.” He said he hadn’t heard exactly what Trump had said and would give him the benefit of the doubt.
Asked why he had not met with relatives of the 43 Mexican student teachers who went missing in Guerrero state in 2014, Pope Francis said he had spoken at length about the problems of assassinations by criminal gangs and drug traffickers. He said he was willing to meet with the relatives but there are many groups representing the ‘desaparecidos’ and there are also internal disputes among these groups.
Another Mexican journalist asked about the problem of child abuse and the legacy which Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries, left in the country. Pope Francis said that a bishop who knowingly moves a priest accused of abuse from one parish to another is ‘irresponsible’ and should resign from his post. He also stressed how hard his predecessor Pope Benedict had worked over the past decade to tackle the problem and pointed to the various steps he has taken with his Council of Cardinals, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
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