On the Pope’s flight – During the approximately 20-minute flight Pope Leo XIV spoke candidly about war, migration, gay blessings and the Holy See’s relations with authoritarian governments. press conference Journalists were traveling with him from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to Rome after his apostolic visit to Africa.
Before taking questions, the Pope stressed that the primary purpose of the Pope’s visit is pastoral rather than political.
He said, “When I make a journey – speaking for myself, but today as the Pope, the Bishop of Rome – especially an apostolic, pastoral journey, it is to find the people of God, to accompany them and to know them.”
He said that such visits should be understood first of all as “an expression of the desire to proclaim the Gospel, to preach the message of Jesus Christ” and as a way of “getting closer to people in their joy, in the depth of their faith, but also in their suffering.”
Asked about the chaotic state of talks aimed at ending the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States, the Pope called for a new mentality rooted in peace rather than violence.
“Of course, I would like to start by saying that we need to promote a new approach, a culture of peace,” he said. “Many times when we evaluate certain situations, the immediate reaction is that we have to enter with violence, with war, by attacking, and we have seen that many innocent people have been killed.”
Leo said the key question is not just whether the regime should change, but also how to protect important values without creating more innocent victims.
“Whether there is regime change or no regime change, the question is how to promote the values we believe in without causing the deaths of so many innocent people,” he said.
Describing the situation as “very complex”, the Pope said that the back-and-forth in negotiations has led to “this chaotic and serious situation for the world economy”, while innocent people in Iran are suffering because of the war.
“Rather, I would encourage continued negotiations for peace,” he said. “As a church, I say again, and as a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war, and I want to encourage everyone to make every effort to have responses that come from a culture of peace, not of hate.”
Later in the exchange, responding to a question about alleged executions by the Iranian regime, the Pope issued a clear condemnation.
Leo said, “I condemn all actions that are unjust, I condemn the taking of people’s lives. I condemn the death penalty.” “I believe that human life should be respected, and the lives of all people should be respected and protected from conception to natural birth. So when a regime, a country, makes decisions that unjustly take away other people’s lives, obviously that is something that should be condemned.”
On migration, a key topic ahead of his next international apostolic visit to Spain, the Pope said governments have the right to regulate their borders, but stressed that rich countries must also address the deeper reasons forcing people to leave poorer countries.
“Obviously, the issue of migration is very complex and affects many countries, not only Spain, not only Europe, but also the United States; it is a global phenomenon,” he said.
Leo continued: “I personally believe that a state has the right to establish rules on its borders. I don’t like the idea that everyone enters as if there were no order, and sometimes creates situations even more unjust than the ones they left behind.”
At the same time, he challenged rich countries and multinational corporations to do more for developing countries, especially Africa.
“But having said that, I ask: What are we doing in rich countries to change the situation in poor countries?” He said. Referring to Africa, he said that for many people it is “seen as a place where one can go to take minerals, take their wealth, enrich others in other countries.”
The Pope stressed that migrants must always be treated with respect.
“When people come, they are human beings and they deserve the respect that every human being deserves because of human dignity,” he said. “We need to treat humans humanely and not treat them worse than household pets, animals, etc.”
A French journalist asked Leo how he avoids giving moral legitimacy to authoritarian rulers when he meets them during the Pope’s visits. The Pope said such encounters could be interpreted in different ways, but he returned to the pastoral purpose of the visit and the diplomatic mission of the Holy See.
“Of course, the presence of the Pope with any head of state can be interpreted in different ways,” he said. “I would go back to what I said in my opening comments about the importance of understanding the primary purpose of the travels I make, which is to meet the Pope, who is meeting people.”
He also defended the Vatican’s continued diplomatic engagement even with difficult governments.
“We don’t always make great announcements, critiques, criticisms or condemnations,” he said. “But there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to promote justice, to promote humanitarian causes.”
That work could include efforts to free political prisoners and combat hunger and disease, he said. “So the Holy See, while maintaining neutrality if you like, and looking for ways to continue our positive diplomatic relations with many different countries, we are really trying to find a way to apply the Gospel in concrete situations, to improve people’s lives.”
Asked about the blessing of gay couples following German Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s decisions in Munich and Freising, Leo said the unity of the Church should not be limited to sexual morality.
He said, “First of all, I think it is very important to understand that the unity or division of the church should not revolve around sexual matters.” “We think that when the Church is talking about morality, the only issue of morality is sexual, and in fact, I believe there are many larger and more important issues like justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, all of which will take priority before that particular issue.”
Leo said the Holy See had already made clear to the German bishops that it did not agree with the “ceremonial blessing of couples”, including same-sex couples or couples in irregular situations, that Pope Francis had allowed.
Referring to Francis’ famous statement “Tutti, tutti, tutti”, Leo said: “Everyone is welcome, everyone is invited. Everyone is invited to follow Jesus, and everyone is invited to see transformation in their lives.”
He further said, “To go beyond this today, I think this topic may create more division than unity,” and we should look for ways to build our unity on Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches.
this story was first published By ACI Stampa, EWTN News’ Italian language partner service. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
