Abuse: Pope revealed that ex-Bishop Zanchetta was already on the bench

ROME.- In an interview in which he talked about everything with the Mexican channel Televisa, broadcast today by the Vatican, the pope spoke of the "monstrosity" of abuses committed in the Church and revealed that the ex-Bishop of Oran
Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta, a prelate accused of these crimes and transferred to the Vatican at the end of 2017, is being treated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"It will take 15 days before the previous survey to officially arrive, I read it and I saw that it was necessary to make a judgment, then I l & # 39; I have pbaded on to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where they render the judgment, "said Francisco.
1 hour and 40 minute talk with
Valentina Alazraki, Televisa correspondent and dean of the Vaticanists, in which she played with humor and self-control many other themes.

Asked if he had brought Zanchetta to the Vatican to defend him and if he had even created an ad hoc position for him at Apsa (Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, entity that administers the Vatican property), then he was suspended, the pope gave details of a rather nebulous case. And he defended himself.

Although Zanchetta, 55, went to the diocese of Oran surprisingly for health reasons on July 29, 2017, the pope confirmed that it was he who had asked him to resign. Prior to that, he had called him to the Vatican because an "accusation" had been brought against him for badgraphic images on his phone. "There was a charge and I immediately brought him here with the person accusing him and explaining him, an accusation on the phone," he said, confirming that he it was pictures but without specifying their contents.

"His defense is to have been hacked and well defended," he said. Since then, he began to follow him especially, said the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires. And when, some time later, they arrived from the Nunciature (Embbady of the Holy See in Argentina), accusations of mistreatment and abuse of power against Zanchetta, he again summoned to Rome for him ask to resign. "I brought him in and I asked him to resign," he said, adding that he later sent her to Madrid, Spain, for Zanchetta to undergo examinations. psychiatric. These derive in a monthly salary, which is why "it was not convenient that he returned to Argentina," explained.

It was at that time that he decided to take her to Apsa, as an advisor, because "the test indicated that he had management capability". Later, when there was a new bishop in his diocese, he decided last December to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the charges brought to light. And things have taken because in this period in Argentina there is a vacation, said.

"So, why do I tell you all this: tell the impatient that he did not do anything, the pope is not obliged to publish what he does all the days, but he did not stay still from the beginning of the case, "he explained. "There are cases that are long, that wait longer, like this one, and I explain why, because I did not have the elements either" or ". b, but today, he is already on trial in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, that is, I have not stopped, "he said. is it forbidden?

Francisco said that he did not know how would end the lawsuit to which Zanchetta is subjected. In this case, he prefers to remain on the sidelines because he is a fellow countryman. "Now, how will the trial end … I do not know, I leave them, in fact, as a bishop, I have to judge him, but in this case I said no. I promulgate, "he revealed.

McCarrick did not know anything

On the very hard
I accused him last August of excommunicating Carlo Maria Viganó, who accused him of having concealed an influential American cardinal,
Theodore McCarrick – whom he expelled from the priesthood last February – and even asked for his resignation, Francisco denied being aware of his abuses. "From McCarrick, I did not know anything, obviously, nothing, nothing, I repeated many times that I did not know, no idea," he said, explaining why he preferred to remain silent and not respond to this fiery letter from Viganó. "In a climate of cruelty, you can not answer," he said. In addition, he defended the Honduran cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, coordinator of the G6, the group of cardinals consultants accused by some of cover-ups and economic mismanagement in his country: they are calumnies, he said. Nobody could prove me anything. That's why he made a mistake. Some mistakes have had, but not the level they want to hang, "he added.

Political pact for the good of the country

At the beginning of the interview, the pope stressed the urgency of "calling for agreements to solve the serious problems of a country". "If the political leaders of a country are fighting each other, the country suffers, I am not a politician, I do not have this post, but the policy is creative, let's not forget that it is one of the highest forms of charity, love, social love, but when the policy must be launched on both sides, a situation of violence is already created in even within the political work, "said Francisco, expressing sentences that fit perfectly with the situation of Argentina, but that he pronounced before a question on the dramatic subject of the violence that affects Mexico. "The political pact must be concluded for the good of the country," he added.

The world without the woman does not work

Faced with femicides, drama not only Mexican but global, Francisco said that he had no explanation. "Yes, I dare to say that the woman is still in second place," he said, exalting the female gender. "The world without the woman does not work, not because it is the one who brings the children, we leave procreation aside, a house without the woman does not work, there is a word that is about to fall from the dictionary, because everyone is afraid of it: tenderness is the heritage of women, now, from there to femicide, going to slavery, there is a step, what is the hatred, I do not can not explain it.

The Vatican Court must disappear

Speaking of the nascent reform of the Roman Curia, he stressed that it is "the system of reduction that must disappear". "And that's what all the cardinals have asked, thank God," he said. "The State of Vatican City as a form of government, the Curia, regardless of its position, is the last European court of absolute monarchy, the last, the others being already constitutional monarchies , the court is diluted, there are still structures to cut, that's what must fall, "he said.

The "heretic" thing does not hurt

In an interview in which he was totally calm and confirmed his "good relations" with the reporters, when Alazraki finally asked him about the strong polarization that reigns within the very Church, with groups that recently accused him of "
heretic, "Francisco said that he had taken this last point" with humor. "" I pray for them because they are mistaken and have seen poor, some manipulated. I saw who was the one who signed … No, seriously, the sense of humor and I would say tenderness, paternal tenderness. I mean, it does not hurt me at all. Hypocrisy hurts me, lies, it hurts me. But such a mistake, where there are even people who have filled their heads … no please, you must take care of them too, you must take care of them " .