On the return flight from his historic trip to Mongolia, made from August 31 to September 4, Pope Francis spoke with journalists about various topics such as the relations of the Vatican and China, the next Synodality Synod, the war in Ukraine; and the relations of the Holy See and Vietnam.
Below, we share the full text of Pope Francis’ press conference, transcribed and translated by Vatican News :
Matteo Bruni: Thank you, Holiness, for these intense days of meeting with this small people rich in culture in a great land, as you have described it; and also with a living Christian community that bears witness to its faith with freshness. The journalists have been able to get interested and get to know this place and still have some questions they would like to ask him.
“Good morning everyone and thank you for the company. Thank you for the work you have done. Also showing through the media the culture of this town, the history. Thank you very much.”
Jargalsaikhan Dambadarjaa (The Defacto Gazette):
Thank you very much, Your Holiness, for your visit to Mongolia. My question is: what was your main objective with this visit and are you satisfied with the result?
Receive the culture of this town and accompany the Church on its path with great respect for the culture of this town. And I am satisfied with the result.”
The current conflict of civilizations can only be resolved through dialogue, as His Holiness has said. Can Ulaanbaatar offer itself as a platform for an international dialogue between Europe and Asia?
With this mystique of the third neighbor, they have this philosophy of going out looking to talk. I really liked this expression of the third neighbor. It’s your wealth.”
Cristina Cabrejas (EFE)
Yesterday you sent a message to the Chinese people and asked Catholics to be good citizens after the country’s authorities did not allow bishops to come to Mongolia. What are relations with China like at the moment? And is there news about Cardinal Zuppi’s trip to Beijing and the mission to Ukraine?
I believe that we must advance in the religious aspect to understand each other better and that the Chinese citizens do not think that the Church does not accept their culture and their values and that the Church depends on another foreign power. The commission chaired by Cardinal Parolin is doing well on this friendly path: they are doing a good job, also on the part of China, relations are on track. I have great respect for the Chinese people.
Gerard O’Connell (America Magazine)
Your Holiness, relations between Vietnam and the Holy See are very positive at the moment, they have taken a notable step forward recently. Many Vietnamese Catholics ask him to visit them, as he did in Mongolia. Is there now a possibility to visit Vietnam, is there any invitation from the government? And what other trips do you have scheduled?
but it is open and we move slowly. There have been some problems, but they have been resolved. As for the trip to Vietnam, if I don’t go, John XXIV will certainly go. About the other trips there is Marseille and then there is one in a small country in Europe and we are seeing if we can do it but, I tell you the truth, for me now taking a trip is not as easy as at the beginning, there are limitations to walking and this limits, but we’ll see.”
Fausto Gasparroni (ANSA)
Your Holiness, your statements to young Russian Catholics about the great mother Russia, the heritage of figures like Peter the Great and Catherine II, have recently sparked debate. These are statements that – let’s put it that way – have greatly irritated the Ukrainians, have also had consequences in the diplomatic sphere and have been seen in a certain way almost as an exaltation of Russian imperialism and a kind of endorsement of Putin’s policy. To you, I wanted to ask, why did he feel the need to make these statements, if he considered making them, if he would repeat them; and also, for the sake of clarity, if he could tell us what he thinks of imperialisms and, in particular, of Russian imperialism?
No? The third, perhaps not entirely correct, but speaking of great Russia in the sense perhaps not so much geographical, but cultural, I remembered what they taught us in school: Peter I, Catherine II. And this third arrived (element, ed.), which may not be entirely correct. Don’t know. Let the historians tell us. But it was an addition that occurred to me because I had studied it in school. What I told young Russians is to take charge of your own inheritance, to take your own inheritance, which means not to buy it somewhere else. Take your own inheritance. And what a legacy great Russia has given: Russian culture is beautiful, very deep; and it should not be deleted due to political problems. In Russia, there have been dark years, but the inheritance has always remained so, at hand. Then you talk about imperialism. And I wasn’t thinking about imperialism when I said that, I was talking about culture, and the transmission of culture is never imperial, ever; It’s always dialogue, and I was talking about that. It is true that there are imperialisms that want to impose their ideology. I’ll stop here: when culture is distilled and becomes ideology, that is the poison. Culture is used, but distilled into ideology. This must be distinguished when it is the culture of a people and when it is the ideologies that later arise for some philosopher, some politician of that town. And I say this for everyone, even for the Church. Many times ideologies are placed within the Church, which distance the Church from the life that comes from the roots and goes upwards; They distance the Church from the influence of the Holy Spirit. An ideology is incapable of being embodied, it is only an idea. But ideology takes its place and becomes politics, it usually becomes a dictatorship, it becomes incapable of dialogue, of advancing with cultures. And imperialisms do this. Imperialism is always consolidated on the basis of an ideology. Also in the Church, we must distinguish between doctrine and ideology: true doctrine is never ideological, never; it is rooted in the holy and faithful people of God; On the other hand, ideology is disconnected from reality, disconnected from the people… I don’t know if I have answered. Imperialism is always consolidated on the basis of an ideology. Also in the Church, we must distinguish between doctrine and ideology: true doctrine is never ideological, never; It is rooted in the holy and faithful people of God; On the other hand, ideology is disconnected from reality, disconnected from the people… I don’t know if I have answered. Imperialism is always consolidated on the basis of an ideology. Also in the Church, we must distinguish between doctrine and ideology: true doctrine is never ideological, never; it is rooted in the holy and faithful people of God; On the other hand, ideology is disconnected from reality, disconnected from the people… I don’t know if I have answered.
Robert Messner (DPA)
Good morning. A question about your update of Laudato si’. Can it be understood as a show of solidarity for environmental activists like the “Last Generation”, those who make spectacular protests? Maybe there is also a message in this update for young activists taking to the streets?
Pope Francis: “A little in general: I do not go with these extremists. But the young people are worried. A good Italian scientist – we had a meeting at the Academy – gave a good speech and ended like this: “I would not like my granddaughter, who was born yesterday, would live in such an ugly world in thirty years.” Young people think about the future. And in that sense I like them to fight well. But when ideology or political pressure has something to do with it, it doesn’t work. My Apostolic Exhortation will be released on San Francisco Day, October 4, and is a review of what has happened since the Paris COP, which has been perhaps the most fruitful, until today. There is some news about some COPs and some things that have not yet been resolved and there is urgency to resolve them. It is not as big as Laudato si’,but it is moving Laudato si’ forward into new things.
Etienne Loraillère (KTO Tv)
You want a synodal Church, in Mongolia and in the world. The October assembly is already the fruit of the work of the people of God. How will it be possible to involve the baptized from all over the world at this stage? How will ideological polarization be avoided? And, will the participants be able to speak and share publicly what they are experiencing, so that we can walk with them? Or will the whole process be secret?
that in these sixty years has carried out reflection in a synodal manner, with continuous progress, moving forward. When fifty years passed since this decision of Saint Paul VI, I signed and published a document on what the Synod is, on what has gone forward. And now it has advanced, it has matured more, and that is why it seemed very good to me to have a Synod on synodality, which is not a fashion, it is an ancient thing, the Church of the East has always had it. But how to live synodality? It is living it as a Christian. And, as I said before, without falling into ideologies. The assembly process: there is one thing that we must take care of, the synodal environment. This is not a television show where we talk about everything. No. There is a religious moment, there is a moment of religious exchange. Consider that in the synodal introductions they will speak for three to four minutes each, three (interventions, ed.) and then there will be three to four minutes of silence for prayer. Then another three, and prayer. Without this spirit of prayer there is no synodality, it is political, it is parliamentarism. The Synod is not a parliament. Regarding secrecy: there is a department headed by Dr. Ruffini, who is here, and who will make press releases about the progress of the Synod. In a Synod you have to keep religiousness and keep the freedom of the people who speak. That is why there will be a commission, chaired by Dr. Ruffini, who will be in charge of reporting on the progress of the Synod. Without this spirit of prayer there is no synodality, it is political, it is parliamentarism. The Synod is not a parliament. Regarding secrecy: there is a department headed by Dr. Ruffini, who is here, and who will make press releases about the progress of the Synod. In a Synod you have to keep religiousness and keep the freedom of the people who speak. That is why there will be a commission, chaired by Dr. Ruffini, who will be in charge of reporting on the progress of the Synod. Without this spirit of prayer there is no synodality, it is political, it is parliamentarism. The Synod is not a parliament. Regarding secrecy: there is a department headed by Dr. Ruffini, who is here, and who will make press releases about the progress of the Synod. In a Synod you have to keep religiousness and keep the freedom of the people who speak. That is why there will be a commission, chaired by Dr. Ruffini, who will be in charge of reporting on the progress of the Synod.
Antonio Pelayo (New Life)
Holy Father, you have just spoken about the Synod and we all agree with you that this Synod arouses great curiosity and interest. Unfortunately, it also arouses much criticism from Catholic circles. I want to refer to a book prefaced by Cardinal Burke that says that the Synod is Pandora’s box from which all calamities for the Church will emerge. What do you think of this position? Do you think that it will be overcome by reality or that it will condition the Synod?
Pope Francis: I don’t know if I’ve ever said it. A few months ago I called a Carmelite. “How are the nuns, Mother Superior?” He was a non-Italian Carmelo. And the prioress answered me. And at the end she tells me: “Your Holiness. We are afraid of the Synod.” “But what’s happening? – I say jokingly – do you want to send a nun to the Synod?” “No, we are afraid that the doctrine will change.” And this is what you say: there is this idea… But if you go to the root of these ideas you will find ideologies. Always, when in the Church one wants to detach the path of communion, what is always detached is ideology. And they accuse the Church of this or that, but they never accuse it of what is true: sinful. They never say sinful… They defend a doctrine in quotes, which is a doctrine like distilled water, it tastes like nothing and is not the true Catholic doctrine that is in the Creed. And that so often scandalizes; How scandalous is the idea that God became flesh, that God became Man, that the Virgin preserved her virginity. That scandalizes.
Cindy Wooden (CNS)
Good morning, Your Holiness, I would like to continue with my French colleague’s question about the Synod and the information. Many lay faithful have dedicated a lot of time, they have prayed, they have been involved speaking, listening. They want to know what happens during the Synod, the assembly. And you spoke of your experience of the Synod on religious, during which some of the Synod had said “don’t put this”, “you can’t say this…”. We journalists do not even have access to the assembly and general sessions, how can we be sure that what is given to us as “pappa” (mush) is true? Is there no possibility of being a little more open with journalists?
Pope Francis: But very open, my dear, it is very open! There is a commission chaired by Ruffini that will give the news every day, but more open I don’t know, more open I don’t know… and it is good that this commission is very respectful of everyone’s interventions and tries not to chatter, but to say things precisely on the synodal march that are constructive for the Church. If you want, if someone wants the news to be: this one took it out on that one for this or that, that’s political chatter. The commission has a far from easy task, to say: today the reflection goes here, it goes there, and to transmit the ecclesial spirit, not the political one. A parliament is different from a Synod. Do not forget that the protagonist of the Synod is the Holy Spirit. And how can this be transmitted? That is why the ecclesial direction must be transmitted.
Vincenzo Romeo (RAI TG 2)
Good morning Holiness. You are the Pope of the peripheries and the peripheries, especially in Italy, are suffering a lot. We have had some worrying episodes of violence, of degradation… for example, near Naples, a parish priest, Don Patriciello, who even invited him to go, then to Palermo… What can be done? He visited the slums in Buenos Aires, so he has experience in this. Our prime minister also visited one of these peripheries, there is a lot of discussion about this. What can be done, what can the Church and State institutions do to overcome this degradation and make the peripheries truly part of a country?
A philosopher once said something that struck me very much: “Reality is best understood from the peripheries.” You have to talk to the peripheries and the governments have to do true social justice, true social justice, with the different social peripheries and also with the ideological peripheries to go talk, because many times it is some exquisite ideological periphery that provokes the social peripheries. The world of the peripheries is not easy. Thank you”. because many times it is some exquisite ideological periphery that provokes the social peripheries. The world of the peripheries is not easy. Thank you”. because many times it is some exquisite ideological periphery that provokes the social peripheries. The world of the peripheries is not easy. Thank you”.