Church ministers shd say no to politicians says pope

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 10 - Church ministers should summon the courage to say no to powerful politicians when they are in the wrong, Pope Francis said Thursday.
    "Even today, in Europe and in every part of the world, to be Christians, and in particular to be ministers of the Church, consecrated men and women, requires saying 'no' to the powers of this world to confirm the 'yes' to the Gospel," said the pontiff while receiving in audience at the Vatican the community of the Pontifical Nepomuk College.
    The pope added: "Sometimes they are political powers, sometimes they are ideological and cultural and their conditioning is more subtle, it passes through the media, which can exert pressure, discredit, blackmail, isolate and so on".
    Francis recalled the sacrifice of the patron Saint John Nepomuk saying "I'm always struck by the fact that he was killed because he wanted to stay faithful to the secret of Confession".
    John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene), c. 1345 - 20 March 1393, was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning. (ANSA).