God Is Always Near. Pope Francis

enough! We have to wait a little now! I think I could go to Asia, but this is all up in the air. I have been invited to go to Sri Lanka and also to the Philippines. However, I must go to Asia because Pope Benedict [XVI] did not have time to go to Asia, and it is important. He went to Australia and then to Europe and America, but not to Asia. As regards going to Argentina. I think this can wait for a moment because all these trips have a certain priority. I wanted to go to Istanbul on September 30 to visit Bartholomew I, but that won’t be possible because of my schedule. If we meet, it will be in Jerusalem.

       Question from the floor

      Fatima?

       Pope Francis

      Fatima? There is also an invitation to Fatima, that’s true. There is an invitation to go to Fatima.

       Question from the floor

      September 30? Or November 30?

       Pope Francis

      November. The feast of St. Andrew.

       Father Lombardi

      Now we move to the United States and invite Hada Messia from CNN to ask you a question.

       Hada Messia

      Hello! You’re coping better than I am! My question is as follows. When you met the young people from Argentina, maybe with tongue in cheek or maybe seriously, you told them that you, too, at times, feel penned in. We would like to know what exactly you were referring to.

       Pope Francis

      You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to go walking through the streets of Rome, because, back in Buenos Aires, I loved to go walking around the city! In this sense, I feel a little penned in. But I have to say that the guys over at the Vatican Gendarmerie are so good! They’re really, really good, and I am grateful to them. Now they’re letting me do a few more things. I believe their job is to maintain security, so I feel penned in in that sense. I’d like to go out walking, but I understand that it isn’t possible. I understand this. That was what I meant. Because I used to be—as we say in Buenos Aires—a callejero, a street priest.

       Father Lombardi

      And now we call on another Brazilian, Marcio Campos. I also ask Mr. Guénois to come up for the next question for the French.

       Pope Francis

      I was asking what time it is, because they have to serve supper. But are you all hungry?

       Background

      No, no….

       Marcio Campos

      Holy Father, I want to say that whenever you miss Brazil, the joy of the Brazilian people, hold on to the flag I gave you! I would also like to thank my colleagues at the daily newspapers Folha de São Paulo, Estado, Globo, and Veja for being able to represent them with this question. Holy Father, it is difficult to accompany the pope, very difficult! We’re all tired. We’re exhausted, but you’re going strong! In Brazil, the Catholic Church has lost a number of the faithful during these past few years. Is the charismatic renewal movement one possible way for ensuring that the faithful do not go over to the Pentecostal church or other Pentecostal churches? Thank you very much for your presence, and thank you very much for being with us.

       Pope Francis

      What you’re saying about the fall in numbers among the faithful is very true. It’s true. The statistics are there. We spoke with the Brazilian bishops about this problem at a meeting we held yesterday. You asked about the charismatic renewal movement. I’ll tell you one thing. Back at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, I had no time for them. Once, speaking about them, I said: “These people confuse a liturgical celebration with samba lessons!” I actually said that. Now I regret it. I got to know them better. It’s also true that the movement, under good leadership, has made great progress. I think this movement does a lot of good for the Church overall. In Buenos Aires, I met frequently with them and once a year I celebrated a Mass with all of them in the cathedral. I have always supported them after I was converted and after I saw the good they were doing.

      Because at this time in the Church—and here I’ll make my answer a little more general—I believe that the movements are necessary. The movements are a grace of the Spirit. “But how can you control a movement which is so free?” The Church is free, too! The Holy Spirit does what he wants. He is the one who creates harmony. But I do believe that the movements are a grace—those movements which have the spirit of the Church. Consequently, I don’t think that the charismatic renewal movement merely prevents some people from passing over to Pentecostal denominations. No! It is also a service to the Church herself! It renews us. Everyone seeks his own movement, according to his own charism, where the Holy Spirit draws him or her.

       Pope Francis

      Now I’m tired!

       Father Lombardi

      Now Mr. Guénois from Le Figaro.

       Jean-Marie Guénois

      Holy Father, one question along with my colleague from La Croix: You have said that without women, the Church grows barren. What concrete measures will you take? For example, the diaconate for women? Or a woman as a head of a dicastery? Also, a little technical question…. You said you were tired. Have special arrangements been made for the return flight? Thank you, Your Holiness.

       Pope Francis

      Let’s begin with the last question. This plane doesn’t have any special accommodations. I’m sitting up front. I have a nice seat, a normal seat, the same as everyone else. I had them write a letter and make a phone call to say that I did not want any special arrangements on the plane. Is that clear?

      Second, about women. A Church without women is like the college of the apostles without Mary. The role of women in the Church is not simply that of motherhood, of being mothers. It’s much greater. More precisely, it is to be the icon of the Virgin Mary, of Our Lady, who helps the Church to grow! Think about it: Our Lady is more important than the apostles! She is more important! The Church is feminine. She is Church; she is bride; she is mother.

      But women, in the Church, must not only be—I don’t know how to say this in Italian—the role of women in the Church must not be limited to being mothers, workers, a role that is limited. No! It is something else! Pope Paul VI wrote something beautiful about women, but I believe that we have much more to do in making more explicit the role and charism of women. We can’t imagine a Church without women, but women active in the Church, with the distinctive role that they play to move it forward.

      I can think of an example that has nothing to do with the Church, but is a historical example in Latin America, in Paraguay. For me, the women of Paraguay are the most glorious women in Latin America. Are you from Paraguay? After the war, there were eight women for every man, and these women made a rather difficult decision: the decision to bear children in order to save their country, their culture, their faith, and their language. In the Church, this is how we should think of women: taking risky decisions, yet as women. This needs to be better explained.

      I believe that we have not yet come up with a deep enough theology of womanhood in the Church. All we say is that they can do this and they can do that. Now they can be altar servers, they can do the readings, they can be in charge of Caritas. But there is more! We need to develop a profound theology of womanhood. That is what I think.

       Father Lombardi

      From the Spanish group, we now have Pablo Ordaz of El País.

       Pablo Ordaz

      We would like to know about your working relationship—not