The Pope's powerful messages during his visit to Belgium have not gone unnoticed. They have generated reactions, mostly positive. He has received multiple standing ovations for his words against abuse.
But there was a group that disagreed with his statements on women at the University of Louvain. At the press conference on his return from the trip, Francis responded to a statement that called his words “deplorable.”
POPE FRANCIS
This statement was made at the time I was speaking. It was made beforehand and this is not moral.
I see that there is a dull mind that does not want to hear about this. Woman is equal to man, indeed, in the life of the Church, woman is superior. On the ministry, the mysticism of woman is greater than the ministry.
Another of the controversies has been the announcement of the process of beatification of King Baudouin, the monarch who took a stand against abortion. Some, the journalist said, saw it as political interference in the democratic life of Belgium. The Pope responded by again clarifying his position.
POPE FRANCIS
The King was courageous because, in the face of a death law, he did not sign and resigned. That takes courage, doesn't it? It takes a politician “with pants” to do that.
A human being is killed. And the doctors who lend themselves to this are—let me use the word—hit men. They are hit men. And that cannot be disputed. A human life is killed.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East, now with the focus on Lebanon, remains a concern for Pope Francis. During his trip, Israel killed the leader of Hezbollah, for which, according to media reports, 2,000lb bombs were dropped.
POPE FRANCIS
I didn't quite understand how things went, but defense should always be proportional to offense. When there is something disproportionate, it shows a dominant tendency that goes beyond morality.
Pope Francis also spoke of the pain he feels from news from the Canary Islands, where a migrant boat was shipwrecked, leaving at least nine dead and 48 missing.
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