VATICAN CITY – «I am ready to go to Kiev. I want to go to Kyiv. But on condition that I go to Moscow. I go to both places or neither.”
Pope Francis speaks to some Argentine media – the newspaper La Nación and the website Infobae – on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his pontificate and intervenes on various issues, from Ukraine to priestly celibacy.
Would allowing priests to marry benefit vocations? “I don’t think so,” the Pope told Infobae, who, however, recalled that priestly celibacy is “a temporary requirement,” a “discipline” that “is not eternal like priestly ordination” and, among other things, only “for the western one Church» applies. , that is the Latin Church, while in the Eastern Catholic Churches there are married priests, «even in the Curia we have one, I met him today, he has a wife, a son…».
The question has been discussed for years, and in 2013 State Secretary Pietro Parolin even recalled that celibacy “is not dogma” and “can be discussed”.
In the future we could go in the direction of a “double discipline” as in the Eastern Churches, that was also discussed at the German synod, but so far we have never got beyond reflection.
However, Francesco doesn’t close the door and speaks to the Argentine side: “I don’t know if it will be solved one way or the other”. And he adds that “celibacy can sometimes lead to machismo. A priest who doesn’t know how to deal with women is missing something, he’s not mature. The Vatican was very macho, but it’s part of the culture, it’s nobody’s fault. It’s always been like that.” Now things are changing, she says: “They have a different methodology, women. They have a different sense of time, waiting, patience than humans. That doesn’t belittle the man, they’re different. And they must complement each other».
Speaking to La Nación, interviewed by Elisabetta Piqué, Francis says that women will also vote at the next synod: «Whoever participates in a synod has the right to vote, male or female, everyone, the word ‘everyone’ for me à is the key», and clarifies: «The Amazon Synod asked: Why aren’t women allowed to vote? Are They Secondary Christians? More and more serious problems were raised in order to improve».
He took the first step two years ago by appointing a woman, Sister Nathalie Becquart, as undersecretary of the synod with automatic voting rights.
As for the trip to Moscow, Francis replies that you never know: “I’m not saying it’s possible. It’s not impossible. Let’s hope we can, huh. eye, there is no promise, nothing. But I didn’t close that door.’ He spoke of Putin as “a cultured person,” and he repeats it again: “He came here three times to see me as head of state, and you can converse with him at a high level, we talked about literature, he speaks perfect German. speaks English,” but clarifies: “A culture is something you acquire, it’s not a moral profession. Those are two different things.”
When asked if there is a Vatican “peace plan,” the pope explains, “No peace plan, there’s a peace service that’s being held with discretion…there are various heads of state who are interested, aren’t there?” But what does it consist of ? “Desiring to serve peace. In India, for example, Modi is very concerned. And Modi is a well-balanced man who knows how to evoke dialogue with both perfectly. An example. There are other heads of state. And we work under the table».
And is a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin conceivable? ‘Put it like that, I don’t know. But a world meeting is plausible. An Israeli group is also working on this. Several that can probably come together and make a difference, right? The Vatican works».