Pope Francis responds to criticism

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Pope Francis gave his first interview since the death of Benedict XVI, admitting to The Associated Press that the open criticism some senior Church officials leveled at him following the death of his German predecessor was like a ” irritating rash that bothers you a bit”.

In the AP interview, conducted on January 24 and published the following day, he did not hesitate to address critics who questioned his treatment of the pope emeritus, as well as his mode of governance and the orientations of his pontificate. The extremely rare occurrence of Vatican officials openly criticizing the Pope was further amplified by the unexpected death of Australian Cardinal George Pell just five days after Benedict XVI’s funeral.

While Francis said such reviews were a bit annoying, he said he’d rather they were explicit than behind his back. As he has done in the past, the 86-year-old pope played down the criticism, linking it more to a form of wear and tear on his pontificate than the death of his predecessor.

“The government is wearing out,” he said. He noted that when he was elected, there was first surprise. “‘Native of South America, come on, now let’s see what he does, what he offers.’ Good things at first, then they started seeing my flaws, my different way of thinking. Some people don’t like it, and there’s criticism,” Francis said.

“We would prefer that they not criticize, to preserve peace of mind,” he admitted. Then he added: “But I prefer them, because it means there is freedom of expression.” With these few words, the pope sends the ball back into the court of his detractors, in particular those who accuse him of being too authoritarian or of not leaving room for his adversaries.

“Criticism helps you grow and make things better”

“Otherwise you create a remote dictatorship, as I call it, where the emperor is there and nobody can tell him anything. No, let them talk, because the camaraderie, the criticism, helps us grow and make things go well. ,” he said.

But if these criticisms are legitimate, continues François, they must be made “in the face because that’s how we all grow up, isn’t it?” He seemed to point out the lack of courage of those who criticize his actions anonymously. And yet the Pope had some very positive things to say about one of his most vocal critics, Cardinal George Pell, who penned an anonymous memorandum criticizing him and his administration.

“They say he criticized me, fine, he has the right to do that. Criticism is a human right,” Francis says. But then he said, “He was a great guy. Wonderful.” In private as in public, the pope has never hidden his admiration for the Australian cardinal, to whom he attributes the strength of character necessary to launch the financial reform of the Curia.

In this interview, the pope also responded to other types of criticism that have emerged in Rome since November, in particular those concerning the Vatican’s handling of the case of Marko Rupnik, the Jesuit mosaicist accused by several women of sexual abuse very serious. “For me, it was a surprise, really. That, for a person, an artist of this level, for me was a big surprise, and a wound,” Francis said.

“Rupnik? I have nothing to do with it”

The pope categorically denied having intervened in the Rupnik affair, in particular on two points. First, he said he had not lifted the excommunication incurred by the Slovenian Jesuit in 2020 for hearing confession and granting absolution to a woman he had a sexual relationship with. This excommunication – for one of the most serious sins in the internal law of the Catholic Church – was lifted less than a month later.

Secondly, Francis says he gave no instructions to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith when he ruled out any canonical prosecution against the accused priest due to the prescription of the facts. “I had nothing to do with it,” said Francis, who confirmed that he routinely waives the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases involving a minor or vulnerable adult.

“These are legal tools that provide security,” Francis said. “Without them, justice would become very manipulable.”

He said his only involvement in the Rupnik case is enough to insist that it be examined “before the normal court” according to the classic procedure. It seemed to be another response to critics who accused Francis of protecting friends, an accusation that former Vatican doctrinal chief Cardinal Gerhard Müller made in his recent book-length interview.

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