Pope Francis to Italy’s Tg5: “Shocked” by US Capitol riots

– Catholic Herald, Rome – Pope Francis told Italy’s Tg5 he was “shocked” (It. stupito — literally: “stupefied”, “astonished”, “stunned”) by the violent unrest in and around the US Capitol earlier this week. “I was shocked,” said Pope Francis, “because this is a people so disciplined in democracy.”

“A movement like this is to be condemned,” Pope Francis said, “quite apart from the people.”

“Even in the most mature realities,” Pope Francis went on to say, “there’s something that isn’t right — something that causes people to take to the streets against the community, against democracy, against the common good.”

“I thank God that this came to the surface,”(It. scoppiato – “broke out”)” as it did, he said, “because in this way you can find a remedy, no?”

“Violence is always thus, isn’t it?” Pope Francis said. “No people can vaunt itself for never having had, one day [or another], a case of violence — it happens, in history — but we must understand well, in order that it not happen again.”

Pope Francis made the remarks to Mediaset Tg5 journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, in an interview that will air in its entirety on Sunday evening at 20:40 CET on the Italian network, ahead of a film titled Call me Francis: The pope of the people.

Tg5 published excerpts in a press release, and a video trailer appeared on the TgCom24 website.