Pope Francis opened up to a
Spanish daily Friday, giving his highly personal views on his
own safety, his need to be impartial in the World Cup, the
importance of a recent Mideast prayer session, the "rash" he
gets when wartime predecessor Pius XII is criticised, and the
legacy he would like to leave.
Francis shrugged off concerns for his personal safety,
telling La Vanguardia "Anything can happen but I haven't much to
lose at my age".
The pontiff is known for light-touch security, as especially
highlighted during his palm-pressing, crowd-pleasing forays
among the faithful at last year's trip to Brazil.
Moving on, Francis declined to say whether he was rooting
for his native Argentina or any other team at the World Cup in
Brazil.
"I have promised to be neutral," he laughingly told Spanish
daily La Vanguardia.
"I have to keep my word because Brazil and Argentina are
always big rivals," said the pontiff, a card-carrying fan of
hometown Buenos Aires team San Lorenzo.
In other remarks, Francis revealed that virtually everyone
in the Holy See was skeptical about his invitation to the
Palestinian and Israeli presidents to attend a recent prayer
meeting in Vatican City.
"Some 99% of them said we shouldn't do it," Francis told
La Vanguardia. "I heard from people we were overreaching...then
the 1% grew".
On Sunday, the pope welcomed Israeli President Shimon Peres
and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican Gardens for
prayer after making a surprise invitation during his visit to
the Holy Land last month.
The Vatican said the success of the event was symbolized at
one point in an embrace shared by Abbas and Peres.
According to Francis, he decided to visit the Holy Land in
light of Peres' upcoming retirement later this summer.
"I knew his term was coming to an end. One way or another,
I had to visit him first," said the pope.
Going on to his controversial WWII predecessor, Francis
said criticism of Pius XII for allegedly not speaking out
against the Holocaust "gives me a rash.
"I want to say that sometimes I have a little existential
rash when I see the attacks by all against the Church of Pius
XII, and the role of the great powers is forgotten," Francis
told La Vanguardia.
Francis admitted that Pius "made mistakes" but stressed
that his actions should be seen "in the context of the times".
The opening of the Vatican archives on WWII, expected in a
few years' time, will "shes a lot of light," on the pope who
beatification cause, Francis recognised on his Holy Land trip,
has been stalled.
In concluding remarks, Francis said he would like to
be remembered as someone who did all that he could to reform the
Church.
"I haven't really thought about it, but I like it when
people say, 'He was a good guy, he did what he could, he wasn't
so bad'. I'd be happy with this," the pontiff told La
Vanguardia.
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