Pope Francis has played down the notion that he is a “superman” who will bring sweeping reforms to the Roman Catholic church, stressing that its ban on contraception and opposition to gay marriage will remain in place.
The Pope, in an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper published yesterday, also said no institution had moved with more “transparency and responsibility” than the Church to protect children in the wake of its sexual abuse scandals.
Since his election as Pope nearly a year ago, Francis has promoted the idea of a more humble church focused on the needs of the poor, winning huge popularity and raising expectations that it would soften its rules on such issues as contraception, cohabitation, divorce and gay relationships.
The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps tranquilly and has friends like everyone else, a normal person
Asked what he felt about his celebrity status, Francis said he disliked the “mythology” of him as a man who could meet all expectations.
“To depict the Pope as a sort of superman, a sort of star, seems offensive to me. The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps tranquilly and has friends like everyone else, a normal person,” he said.
Francis made clear he did not envision changing the Church’s stance on such issues as the ban on artificial birth control enshrined in Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life).
A synod of bishops to be held in October would discuss ways of applying and explaining it better, he said, calling the encylical “prophetic and courageous”.
“It’s not a question of changing the doctrine but going deeper so that pastoral concern takes into account situations and what can be done for people,” he said, without elaborating.
Asked about the sexual abuse scandal, in which many priests who molested children were moved from parish to parish instead of being dismissed, he said the Church had done much since the scandal first broke some 15 years ago and was being singled out for attack.
He defended the Church’s record, including that of his predecessor former Pope Benedict, whom Francis credited with having the courage to start reforms.
“On this path, the Church has done much, perhaps more than all others,” he said.
“The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution that has moved with transparency and responsibility. No one has done more, and yet the Church is the only one that is being attacked,” he said.
He appeared to be referring to a report by a UN committee last month which accused the Vatican of systematically turning a blind eye to decades of sexual abuse of children by priests, and demanded it turn over known or suspected offenders to civil justice. The Vatican said the report was distorted, unfair and ideologically slanted.
Meanwhile, Mondadori publishing house, which lists the popular celebrity gossip rag Chi among its titles, announced it is launching a new magazine entirely devoted to the weekly doings, sayings, gestures and activities of the 265th Successor of Peter.
Il mio Papa (My Pope), at 50 cents a copy and published every Wednesday, includes a free pull-out poster with one of Francis’s more memorable quotes from the previous seven days.