risk would be for pregnant women. Some authorities have proposed abortion, or
avoiding pregnancy. With regard to avoiding pregnancy, on this issue, can the
Church take into consideration the concept of 'the lesser of two evils?'"
 Pope Francis: "Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime, an
absolute evil. On the ‘lesser evil,' avoiding pregnancy, we speak in terms of a
conflict between the fifth and sixth commandments. Paul VI, a great man, in a
difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of
rape. Do not confuse the evil of avoiding pregnancy by itself, with abortion.
...
On the other hand, avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain
cases,
as in this one, or in the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear. I
also urge doctors to do their utmost to find vaccines against ... this disease.
Work needs to be done on this".
 Question: "You will soon receive the Charlemagne Prize, one of the most
prestigious awards in the European Community. ... Do you have a word for us in
this situation of crisis in Europe?"
 Pope Francis: "First, about the Charlemagne Prize. I had the habit of not
accepting prizes or honours, not out of humility, but because I do not like
these things. ... But in this case, I would not say I was 'forced', but
convinced
by the holy and theological stubbornness of Cardinal Kasper. ... I accepted and
said 'yes, but in the Vatican'. And I offer it to Europe, as a co-decoration
for
Europe, a prize so that Europe may do as I said at Strasbourg; that it may no
longer be 'grandmother Europe' but 'mother Europe'. Secondly, reading the news
the other day about this crisis and so on ... there was one word that I liked
...
the 're-foundation' of the European Union. I thought of the great fathers, but
today where is there a Schuman, an Adenauer, the great statesmen who after the
war founded the European Union. I like this idea of the re-foundation of the
European Union, maybe it can be done, because Europe - I do not say is unique,
but it has a strength, a culture, a history that cannot be lost, and we must do
everything so that the European Union has the strength and also the inspiration
to go forward".
 Question: "Holy Father, you have spoken much about families and the Year of
Mercy in this trip. Some wonder how a Church that claims to be merciful can
forgive a murderer more easily than someone who has divorced and remarried?"
 Pope Francis: "On the family, two synods have spoken. The Pope has spoken on
this all year in the Wednesday Catechisms. The question is true, you posed it
very well. The post-Synod document ... reviews everything the Synod has said on
conflicts, wounded families and the pastoral (care) of wounded families. It is
one of our concerns. Another is the preparation for marriage. ... Preparation
for
marriage is very important. ... I believe it is something that in the Church,
in
common pastoral ministry, at least in my country, in South America, the Church
has not valued much. For example, it does not happen so much now, but some
years
ago in my homeland there was a habit, something called ‘casamiento de apuro', a
marriage in haste because of an unplanned pregnancy, to protect the honour of
the family. There, the spouses were not free and often this type of marriage is
null. As a bishop I forbade my priests to celebrate this type of marriage. ...
I
would say, let the baby come, let them continue as fiancées, and when they feel
like they can continue for the rest of their lives, then they could go ahead.
...
Another very interesting chapter is the education of children: the victims of
family problems are the children. ... Another interesting thing from the
meeting
with families in Tuxtla - there was a couple, married again in second union,
and
'integrated' in the pastoral ministry of the Church. The key phrase used by the
synod, which I'll take up again, is to ‘integrate' wounded families, remarried
couples and so on in the life of the Church. But the children who in the middle
must not be forgotten. They are the primary victims, both of these wounds, and
of conditions of poverty, work, and so on".
 Question: "Does that mean they can receive Communion?"
 Pope Francis: "This is the last thing. Integrating in the Church does not mean
receiving communion. ... It is a path towards integration, all doors are open,
but
we cannot say, ‘from here on they can have communion.' This would be an injury
also to marriage, to the couple, because it would not allow them to proceed on
this path of integration. And the couple in Tuxtla were happy. They used a very
beautiful expression: we do not receive Eucharistic communion, but we receive
communion when we visit hospitals, in this service, and so forth. Their
integration has remained there. If there is something more, the Lord will tell
them, but it is a path, a road".
 Question: "The media have referred to the intense correspondence John Paul II
and the American philosopher, Ana Teresa Tymieniecka. ... According to His
Holiness, can a Pope have such an intimate relationship with a woman?"
 Pope Francis: "I would say that a man who does not know how to have a
relationship of friendship with a woman ... well, he is a man who is missing
something. ... A friendship with a woman is not a sin. It is a friendship. ...
But
the Pope is a man. The Pope needs the input of women, too. And the Pope, too,
has a heart that can have a healthy, holy friendship with a woman. There are
saint-friends - Francis and Clare, Teresa and John of the Cross. ... But women
are still not well considered; we have not understood the good a woman can do
for the life of a priest and of the church in the sense of counsel, help and
healthy friendship".
 Question: "On the topic of the law that is being considered in the Italian
parliament: it is a law that in some ways is about other countries, because
other countries have laws about unions among people of the same sex. There is a
document from the Congregation for the Doctrine for the Faith from 2003 that
dedicates ... a chapter to the position of Catholic parliamentarians in
relation
this question. It says expressly that Catholic parliamentarians must not vote
for these laws. I wanted to ask, first of all, is this document of 2003 still
in
effect? What is the position a Catholic parliamentarian must take? Also, after
Moscow, Cairo: is there another 'thawing' on the horizon? I refer to the
audience His Holiness hopes for with the 'Pope of the Sunnis', if we may call
him thus: the Imam of Al Azhar".
 Pope Francis: "On this second issue, Msgr. Ayuso, secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue presided by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran,
went
to meet the deputy to the Imam, and to greet the Imam. ... I want to meet him.
I
know that he would like it. We are looking for a way, always through Cardinal
Tauran because that is the way. But we we achieve this. Regarding the first
theme: I do not remember that 2003 document from the Congregation of the
Doctrine of the Faith, but every Catholic parliamentarian must vote according
their well-formed conscience. I would say only this. I think it is sufficient.
...
With regard to persons of the same sex, I repeat what I said on the trip to Rio
di Janeiro. It is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church".
 Question: "Thank you for this trip to Mexico. ... And we are already thinking
about future trips. When are you going to go to Argentina, where they have been
waiting for you for a long time? When will you return to Latin America, or will
you go to China?"
 Pope Francis: "I would love to go to China! ... I would like to say something
just about the Mexican people. It is a population that has a great wealth ... a
culture that goes back millennia. ... It is a people of great faith. They have
also suffered religious persecution. There are martyrs, and I will now canonize
two of them. It is a people that you cannot easily explain, because the word
‘people' is not a logical category, it's a mythical category. The Mexican
people
cannot be explained: you cannot explain this wealth, this history, this joy,
the
capacity to celebrate amid tragedy. ... A nation that nevertheless still has
this
vitality can be explained only by Guadalupe. And I invite you to seriously
study
the facts of Guadalupe. The Madonna is there. I cannot find another
explanation.
... There are good books that explain it, that also explain the painting and
its
meaning. In this way you can understand better this great and beautiful
people".

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