ROME – Pope Francis has criticised the practice of so-called “fat shaming” or “body shaming” – and admitted that he once bullied a boy who was overweight.
In a lengthy video call with young people from south Asia, Francis confessed to making life miserable for a child because he was fat.
Responding to a question from a young woman named Merlin from India, who said that as a teenager she would cry herself to sleep because she was teased for being overweight, Pope Francis said this mentality “is something that is influencing us”.
“We do everything to appear, and not to be. So does body-shaming,” he said.
Francis recounted how when he was still in school, he and his friends once bullied a schoolmate who was overweight, and that when his father found out, he was taken to his classmate’s home to apologise.
Years later, after he was already ordained a priest, the Pope said he reconnected with the classmate, who had become an Evangelical pastor, and by then “had overcome all of his trauma, his bullying, his shame, his body-shame”.
That man recently died, he said, but insisted that “it was beautiful” to reconnect and to see how his schoolmate was able to overcome the teasing he had endured.
“There is the beauty of the harmony of the individual, regardless of you being fat, thin, short, tall.
“The important thing is to live in harmony, harmony in your hearts,” he said, adding, “Beauty makes us grow in terms of our mental health: every man, every woman, has our own beauty, we only have to learn how to see it, how to recognise it.”
Even when someone is not considered physically attractive, they must be “in full harmony with our beauty as a person, as an individual”, he said.
To this end, Francis insisted that “plastic surgery serves no purpose, because this beauty is eventually going to fade”.
He pointed to Italian actress Anna Magnani, saying he heard that at one point, when she began to age, she insisted that she would not “get rid” of her wrinkles, arguing that “it cost me to get them, they are my beauty”.
“We all have our beauty, and we have to accept it and live in harmony with it.
“We have to live in harmony with the beauty of our hearts,” the Pope said, saying young people must learn how to protect themselves from the “artificial beauties” advertised on social media.
“When a woman is pregnant, when she is expecting, her body-shape is not beautiful per se, but expecting a child is one of the most beautiful things ever,” ,” he said.
“So, it’s not only a question of measurements or sizes, it’s a harmonic beauty that every woman, every man has, and we have to cherish that.”
Pope Francis spoke with 12 Indian, Pakistani and Nepali students from local Catholic universities who participated in an Sept. 26 video call titled “Building Bridges in South Asia.”
It was organized by the Jesuit-run Loyola University in Chicago in cooperation with the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and marked the third event in anticipation of the looming Synod of Bishops on Synodality, set to take place from October 4-29 in Rome. Previous online encounters involved young people in Latin America and Africa.
The Holy Father also touched on the negative influence of new technologies, the lack of education and employment for young people throughout the world, and anti-Christian persecution, condemning all forms of fundamentalism and warning against what he said are “Christian extremists” who turn the Gospel into ideology.
Extremists will not willingly enter dialogue, he said, warning his audience that there are “extremists among Christians as well.”
“It hurts, but I must say that there are ideological extremists who transform the Gospel into an ideology, so what is not good or beneficial for dialogue is extremists of any kind,” he said.
The world needs brave and courageous people who are willing to listen to others, even those who are different, he said.
Francis added: “You have an opinion, I have a different opinion, but we can talk because we are humans. Let us never forget this. Through dialogue, we create humanity in people.”
Pope Francis said youth suicide is “a tragic reality” that happens when young people “are faced with a closed door, they were looking for something and they couldn’t find it”.
Many young people turn to drugs or suicide in places where they lack opportunities and “lose all hope”, believing that their lives are a failure, he said, but insisted that “God always gives us the resilience to stand up again,” even when it seems impossible.
“The important thing is not to not fall, but not to stay or lay on the ground. That’s wisdom: I fall, but then I stand up again. And if I give a hand to someone, this is regardless of that person’s background,” he said.
Francis closed urging young people to move forward with courage and told them, “Don’t lose your sense of humour, because humour means mental health.”
He gave his blessing and asked the youths to pray for him, saying, “This job is not easy, I need prayers! Pray for me.”
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