By virtue of its definition, marriage can only be between a man and a woman, Pope Francis has said in a new book-length interview.
“We cannot change it. This is the nature of things,” he said in a series of interviews with Dominique Wolton, a French sociologist and director of research at CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research).
Published in French, the 417-page book, Politique et Société (“Politics and Society”) will be released on September 6. Excerpts have appeared online by agreement.
When it comes to the true nature of marriage as well as gender, there is “critical confusion at the moment”, the Pope said.
When asked about marriage for same-sex couples, the Pope said: “Let’s call this ‘civil unions’. We do not joke around with truth.”
Teaching children that they can choose their gender, he said, also plays a part in fostering such mistakes about the truth or facts of nature.
Pope Francis also referred to abortion as the “murder of an innocent person”. But he added: “If there is sin, forgiveness must be facilitated.” The Pope said that a woman who has had an abortion often “cries for years without having the courage to go see a priest”. For this reason he had given priests permanent permission to grant absolution to those who confess to having procured an abortion.
Francis said the biggest threat in the world is money, and referred to St Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus talked about people’s love and loyalty being torn between God and money. “It’s clear. They are two things opposed to each other,” the Pope said.
Francis saw a psychoanalyst for six months in Argentina
Pope Francis has revealed that he saw a psychoanalyst every week for six months when he was 42.
The Pope made the disclosure during a series of interviews recorded in the new book, Politique et Société.
In extracts published by Le Figaro, the Pope said: “I consulted a Jewish psychoanalyst. For six months, I went to her home once a week to clarify a few things.”
Jorge Mario Bergoglio had finished his six-year term as provincial superior of the Argentine Jesuits, and was named rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel the following year.
Pope Francis continued: “Then one day, when she was about to die, she called me.
“She didn’t want to receive the sacraments, since she was Jewish, but for a spiritual dialogue. She was a very good person. For six months, she helped me a lot when I was 42.”
Although the Vatican never officially condemned psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s work faced disapproval from Catholic thinkers at the time.
Argentina has the largest number of psychotherapists per capita of any country.
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