The bag, he said, contained a razor, a prayer book, his agenda and a book on St

Simple is Smart Grid Switch :: \ubd80\uc0b0\ucd9c\uc7a5\uc548\ub9c8(\ud574\uc6b4\ub300 \uad11\uc548\ub9ac \uae40\ud574)\uc2e0\uc138\uacc4\ub85cUpdated 1:53 p.m. ET

ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRCRAFT

Pope Francis reached out to gays, saying he won’t judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference Monday as he returned from his first foreign trip.

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Francis asked. “We shouldn’t marginalize people for this. They must be integrated into society.”

Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men who had deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory in his first news conference as pope, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.

The comments did not signal any change in church policy. Catholic teaching still holds that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” But they indicated a shift in tone under Francis’ young papacy and an emphasis on a church that is more inclusive and merciful rather than critical and disciplinary.

Asked for comment, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told CBS News that the pope was “for sure” not just referring to gay priests, but to all gays.

Lombardi said this did not represent a change in church teachings. As Pope Francis pointed out himself in his answer, the church’s catechism teaches that gays are to be accepted and welcomed, not discriminated against. Lombardi pointed out that during the press conference the pope specifically confirmed church teachings on abortion and female ordination.

The thing that was different here, Lombardi said, was the pope’s attitude, which puts mercy, forgiveness and understanding “in the forefront.”

Francis also said he wanted a greater role for women in the church, though he insisted that they cannot become priests.

He was funny and candid during the 82 minutes he spent with journalists on board the plane returning from Brazil. He didn’t dodge a single question, and even thanked the journalist who raised allegations contained in an Italian news magazine that one of his trusted monsignors was involved in a gay tryst.

Francis said he investigated the allegations according to canon law and found nothing to back them up.

He took journalists to task for reporting on the matter, saying the allegations concerned matters of sin, not crimes like sexually abusing children. And when someone sins and confesses, he said, God not only forgives — but forgets.

“We don’t have the right to not forget,” he said.

The directness of Francis’ comments suggested that he wants to put the matter of the monsignor behind him, while also setting a new tone of openness as he focuses on his key priority of reforming the Holy See bureaucracy.

Francis was also asked about reports suggesting that a group of gay clergymen exert undue influence on Vatican policy. Italian news media reported this year that the allegations of what they call the “gay lobby” contributed to Benedict’s decision to resign.

The term “gay lobby” is bandied about with abandon in the Italian media, and is decidedly vague. Interpretations of what it means have ranged from the benign concept of a group of celibate gay priests who are friends, to a suggestion that a group of sexually active gay priests use blackmail to exert influence on Vatican decision-making.

Stressing that Catholic social teaching calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said he would not condone anyone using private information for blackmail or to exert pressure.

“A lot is written about this `gay lobby. I still haven’t found anyone at the Vatican who has `gay’ on his business card,” Francis said, chuckling. “You have to distinguish between the fact that someone is gay and the fact of being in a `lobby.”‘

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit author and commentator, saw the pope’s remarks as a sign of mercy.

“Today Pope Francis has, once again, lived out the Gospel message of compassion for everyone,” he said in an emailed statement.

Speaking in Italian with occasional lapses in his native Spanish, Francis dropped a few nuggets of news:

-He said he is thinking of traveling to the Holy Land next year and is considering invitations from Sri Lanka and the Philippines as well.

-The planned Dec. 8 canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII will likely be changed — perhaps until the weekend after Easter — because road conditions in December would be dangerously icy for people from John Paul II’s native Poland traveling to the ceremony by bus.

-And he solved the mystery that had been circulating since he was pictured boarding the plane to Rio carrying his own black bag, an unusual break from Vatican protocol.

“The keys to the atomic bomb weren’t in it,” Francis quipped. The bag, he said, contained a razor, a prayer book, his agenda and a book on St. Terese of Lisieux, to whom he is particularly devoted.

“It’s normal” to carry a bag when traveling, he said, stressing the style that separates him from other pontiffs, who until a few decades ago were carried around on platforms. “We have to get use to this being normal.”

“There wasn’t a single incident in all of Rio de Janeiro in all of these days and all of this spontaneity,” Francis said, responding to concerns raised after his car was swarmed by an adoring mob when it took a wrong turn.

“I could be with the people, embrace them and greet them — without an armored car and instead with the security of trusting the people,” he said.

He acknowledged that there is always the chance that a “crazy” person could get to him; John Paul II was shot in 1981. But Francis said he preferred taking a risk than submitting to the “craziness” of putting an armored wall between a shepherd and his flock.

Francis’ news conference was remarkable and unprecedented: Pope John Paul II used to have on-board talks with journalists, but he would move about the cabin, chatting with individual reporters so it was hit-or-miss to hear what he said. After Benedict’s maiden foreign voyage, the Vatican insisted that reporters submit questions in advance so the theologian pope could choose three or four he wanted to answer with prepared comments.

For Francis, no question was off the table — no small thing given that he is known to distrust the mainstream news media and had told journalists en route to Rio that he greatly dislikes giving interviews because he finds them “tiresome.”

Francis spoke lovingly of his predecessor, saying that having him living in the Vatican “is like having a grandfather, a wise grandfather, living at home.” He said he regularly asks Benedict for advice, 부산출장안마 but dismissed suggestions that the German pontiff is exerting any influence on his papacy.

On the contrary, Francis said he has tried to encourage Benedict to participate more in public functions at the Vatican and receive guests, but that he is “a man of prudence.”

In one of his most important speeches delivered in Rio, Francis described the church in feminine terms, saying it would be “sterile” without women. Asked what role he foresees, he said the church must develop a more profound role for women in the church, though he said “the door is closed” to ordaining women to the priesthood.

He had harsh words for Monsignor Nunzio Scarano. The Vatican accountant has been jailed on accusations that he plotted to smuggle euro20 million ($26 million) from Switzerland to Italy and is also accused by Italian prosecutors of using his Vatican bank account to launder money.

Francis said while “there are saints” in the Vatican bureaucracy, Scarano isn’t among them.

The Vatican bank has been a focus of Francis’ reform efforts, and he has named a commission to look into its activities amid accusations from Italian prosecutors that it has been used as an offshore tax haven to launder money.

Asked if closing the bank is a possibility, Francis said: “I don’t know how this story will end.”

/p>

Related Posts

Some DPP lawmakers object to the idea of any nuclear referendum at all, while others say that the language in the bill needs to be changed because it is prejudicial. According to the bill under discussion, referendum voters would be asked to vote on whether they agree with the proposition that “the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant should be halted and that it not become operational.” Taiwan began transitioning away from a one-party martial law regime in 1987 and is regarded today as one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. But its political process has been undermined by occasional outbursts of violence in the legislature, much of which appears to be deliberately designed to score points among hardline supporters on either side of the island’s longstanding political divide.
The draft resolution — if it were to be put to a vote — would almost certainly be vetoed by Russia and China, which have blocked past attempts to sanction President Bashar Assad’s regime. Late Wednesday, Britain’s mission to the U.N. said no decision had been made on moving forward with its resolution, CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk reports from U.N. headquarters in New York. After the council fell short of reaching an agreement, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters in Washington that the U.S. sees “no avenue forward” given Russia’s past opposition to action by the council on Syria. “We’ve consistently said that we support U.N. Security Council action,” Harf told reporters. “Instead, what we’ve seen, not just today, not just last week, but over the course of many months, is the Russians at every move doing things to fail to hold the Syrian regime accountable.” Britain put forth the proposal Wednesday as momentum seemed to be building among Western allies for a strike against Syria. U.S. officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have charged that Assad’s government used deadly chemical weapons near Damascus last week. The U.S. has not presented concrete proof, and U.N. inspectors currently in Syria to investigate alleged chemical attacks have not endorsed the allegations. The American government’s assessment is based on the circumstantial evidence from videos posted on the Internet, and, as CBS News correspondent David Martin reported Tuesday, intelligence – much of it still classified – ranging from intercepted Syrian communications to tests of tissue samples taken from victims. The U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said Wednesday that evidence suggests some kind of “substance” was used that killed hundreds on Aug. 21. Falk reports that the five permanent members of the Security Council met in a closed-door, informal meeting to discuss the U.K. resolution Wednesday morning, with Russia and China leaving after an hour and the U.S., France and the U.K. remaining for another hour. None of the countries’ representatives, including U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, commented on a plan to move forward. After the ambassadors met, the draft resolution was being sent back to their governments for consultations, according to a Western diplomat, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. The diplomat said Russia reiterated its objections to international intervention in the Syrian crisis. A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said in London that the British draft resolution would authorize “all necessary measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter to protect civilians from chemical weapons.” Chapter 7 allows the use of international armed force to back up U.N. decisions. Speaking Wednesday from The Hague, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said no action should be taken until the U.N. chemical weapons inspectors finish their work. “Let them conclude … their work for four days and then we will have to analyze scientifically” their findings and send a report to the Security Council, he said. The U.N. said the analysis would be done “as quickly as possible.” Ban also pleaded for more time to give diplomacy another chance to end the more than two-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people. But the secretary-general added that the Security Council must not go “missing in action.” Meanwhile, U.N. chemical weapons experts on Wednesday took biological samples from several victims of last week’s purported attack, activists said Wednesday. Fear of a dramatic escalation in the two-and-a-half-year conflict prompted some 6,000 Syrians to flee into Lebanon over a 24-hour period, or more than six times the average daily flow. A jittery Israel ordered a special call-up of reserve troops Wednesday as residents lined up at gas-mask distribution centers, preparing for possible hostilities with Syria. A week after the purported attack, momentum has been building for a possible strike by the U.S. and its allies against the Assad regime. At the same time, Syria’s main allies Russia and Iran warned of dire consequences for the region if a military intervention is launched. Syria, which sits on one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, has denied the charges. Local opposition activists told CBS News that a convoy of U.N. inspectors had reached the town of Mleiha, in the sprawling Ghouta area, and videos posted online by the activists showed them interviewing patients at clinics in Mleiha and the nearby town of Zamalka. One video showed the inspectors visiting a clinic and interviewing a man through a translator. Two inspectors were present as a nurse leaned over a man lying on an exam table. One of the experts is heard in the video saying he and his team members have collected blood, urine and hair samples. One activist said the team took hair and skin samples of five suspected victims in Zamalka during a 90-minute visit. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of regime reprisals. The U.N. team in Syria did not issue a statement about Wednesday’s trip. Marking the centenary of a venue for peaceful conflict resolution, the U.N.’s Ban said: “Here in the Peace Palace, let us say: Give peace a chance. Give diplomacy a chance. Stop fighting and start talking.” The growing fear of escalation sent wider ripples across the region. Lebanese security officials in the country’s Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria said at least 6,000 Syrians have crossed into Lebanon in the past 24 hours through the main Masnaa border crossing, including an estimated 4,000 on Wednesday. The normal daily rate is 500 to 1,000 Syrian refugees coming to Lebanon, depending on the level of fighting. Witnesses said they saw long lines of cars packed with families and belongings at the crossing. There was also traffic in the other direction — a security official said around 2,000 crossed into Syria on Wednesday — but many of them said they were going in to evacuate relatives from Syria. Um Ahmad, 45, crossed to Lebanon with her five children Wednesday, fearing U.S. strikes on Damascus. “Isn’t it enough, all the violence and fighting that we already have in the country, now America wants to bomb us, too?” she said, declining to give her full name for security concerns. Her husband said they have no one in Lebanon but came anyway because of their children. “What will we do here, where will we go? I don’t know — but hopefully we’ll be safe.” Nearly 2 million Syrians have fled their country since the crisis began in March 2011, and millions more are displaced inside Syria. In Israel, the government ordered a “limited” call-up of reserve units to beef up civil defense preparations and to operate air-defense units near the border. Officials said the call-up is anticipated to bring in “hundreds” of troops. Israel fears that Syria may respond by attacking the Jewish state, a close American ally. While Israeli officials believe the chances of a Syrian strike remain slim, people were clearly preparing for the possibility. Large crowds lined up at gas-mask distribution centers. Maya Avishai of the Israeli postal service, which oversees gas mask distribution, said demand has tripled in recent days. About five million Israelis, roughly 60 percent of the population, now have gas masks, she said. Jordan, meanwhile, said it will not be used as a launching pad for attacks on Syria and the kingdom favors a diplomatic solution to the crisis. A U.S.-led strike would involve cruise missile attacks from the sea, which would not need to cross or make use of Jordanian territory.
Funeral arrangements are pending

No comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *