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Pope Francis has done a lot on “rebranding” the public perception of the Catholic Church, speaking out against frivolous spending and breaking down security protocols to be closer to his followers. Just a day after hosting a peace talk with Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Vatican, he granted an interview to the newspaper “La Vanguardia”, the first ever to a Spanish daily. In the interview, he reaffirmed his criticism of the current economic system that he says worships the “God of Money” and “discards” men and women. He acknowledged the risks he takes by breaking Vatican security protocol, but stresses that he doesn’t want to be separated from his followers by a “sardine can”.
Pope Francis waving at at followers
According to the Pope, violence in the name of God is a contradiction that simply “doesn’t belong” in our era. This is interesting to hear from the head of the Catholic Church, an institution that previously sponsored such horrible actions as the Crusades, the Inquisition and Thirty Years’ War. But Pope Francis acknowledged this, stating that such actions are “unthinkable” in the modern age. Religion has caused us, according to Francis, to reach some serious contradictions, such as fundamentalism. Francis has turned down the “revolutionary” title that many have given him since he’s taken office, claiming that his process has just been to go back to the “roots” of Catholicism and see how it’s relevant in the modern age.
In regards to breaking security protocols, Francis recognizes that his actions put him at risk, but also accepts that something like that is in God’s hands. In Brazil, they arranged for Francis to greet people in a closed Pope Mobile, but reaching people behind a glass building isn’t a good way to tell them that he loves them. True, it’s possible that something could happen to him, but the 77 year-old religious leader doesn’t have too much to lose at this age.
Seeing starving children in this day and age is a shock to many people, who find it hard to understand. Francis has taken every chance possible to criticize the modern economic system, saying that people worship the “money god”. More and more younger people are unemployed. Francis has expressed his displeasure that the current economic system is “discarding” the younger generation to keep up.
The entire interview with Francis was published today both online and in print. When the reporter asked Francis how he wanted to be remembered, Francis said that the had “not thought” about it, although being remembered as a “good guy”, who did what he could and wasn’t that bad at what he did would be just fine with him.
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