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Pope Francis said his conservative critics held a “suicidal attitude” toward the evolution of the church in a rare new interview.
Francis was asked about his controversial comments about LGBTQ individuals and the Vatican’s endorsement of blessings for individuals in same-sex relationships during the “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday. Host Norah O’Donnell asked him if he had a message for conservative bishops in the U.S. who’ve criticized his “efforts to revisit teachings and traditions” in the church.
“You used an adjective, ‘conservative.’ That is, conservative is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that,” Francis said.
“It is a suicidal attitude,” he continued. “Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.”
Pope Francis addressed conservative critics in a new interview. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Fox News Digital contacted the Vatican, the Holy See Press Office and CBS News for additional comment.
Earlier, Francis also corrected the CBS News anchor on the church’s view on same-sex unions.
O’Donnell asked Francis why he had “allowed Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples” beginning in December.
Francis said he hadn’t blessed same-sex couples in the union of marriage because that was “not the sacrament” but he had allowed priests to bless each person as an individual.
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“No, what I allowed was not to bless the union. That cannot be done because that is not the sacrament. I cannot. The Lord made it that way,” he said. “But to bless each person, yes. The blessing is for everyone.”
Pope Francis corrected “60 Minutes” about the church’s blessings for individuals in same-sex relationships. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
During a private meeting in August, the pope blasted conservative Catholics and bishops in the U.S. as holding a “backward” view on faith and the church. A Portuguese Jesuit had told Francis that he suffered during a recent sabbatical year in the United States because he came across many Catholics, including some U.S. bishops, who criticized the pope’s 10-year papacy as well as today’s Jesuits.
The 86-year-old Argentine acknowledged his point and said there was “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” in the U.S. church. Francis warned that such an attitude leads to a climate of closure, which was erroneous.
“Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith,” he said.
“The vision of the doctrine of the church as a monolith is wrong,” the pope added. “When you go backward, you make something closed off, disconnected from the roots of the church. … I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
