Pope acknowledges China bishop deal will cause suffering

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-acknowledges-china-bishop-deal-cause-suffering-212334193.html

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis acknowledged Tuesday that his landmark deal with China over bishop nominations will cause suffering among the underground faithful. But he said that he takes full responsibility and that he — and not Beijing — will have the ultimate say over naming new bishops.

Francis provided the first details of the weekend agreement signed during an in-flight news conference coming home from the Baltics. The deal aims to end decades of tensions over bishop nominations that had contributed to dividing the Chinese church and hampered efforts at improving bilateral relations.

China's estimated 12 million Catholics are split between those belonging to the government-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is outside the pope's authority, and an underground church loyal to the pope. Underground priests and parishioners are frequently detained and harassed.

Francis — and before him Pope Benedict XVI — had tried to unite the two communities, and years of negotiations kicked into high gear over a year ago.

Francis acknowledged that both sides lost something in the talks, and said members of the underground Chinese church "will suffer" as a result of the deal, the text of which has not been released.

"It's true, they will suffer. There is always suffering in an agreement," the pope said.

>>3192186

GOD WINS

>>3192201

>>3192219

Pope says youth are 'scandalized' by Catholic Church's 'monstrous' abuse crisis

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/25/world/pope-abuse-youth-scandalized/index.html

Pope Francis says young Catholics are "scandalized" by the Catholic Church's "monstrous" clergy sexual abuse crisis but adds that church officials who tried to handle abusive priests many years ago should not be judged by today's standards.

The Pope's comments came Tuesday aboard the papal flight home from the Baltics, when he answered reporters' questions for about 50 minutes.

On Tuesday, Francis met with young people in Tallinn, Estonia, where he also acknowledged the church's abuse scandal and said Catholic leaders need to be "converted" to address young people's concerns.

"Young people are scandalized by the hypocrisy of older people," Francis told journalists on Tuesday. "They are scandalized by war. They are scandalized by incongruity, they are scandalized by corruption, and as part of this corruption … sexual abuse."

"In old times these things were covered up," the Pope told journalists on Tuesday. "They were covered up also in the homes when the uncle raped the little niece, or the father raped his children. They were covered up because the shame was very big."

"It is how people thought in the last century," Francis continued. "There is a principle that helps me a lot to interpret history. An historic event must be interpreted with the hermeneutics of that time, not with the hermeneutics of today."

"In old times these things were covered up," the Pope told journalists on Tuesday. "They were covered up also in the homes when the uncle raped the little niece, or the father raped his children. They were covered up because the shame was very big."