Diario Extra – "Attacks on me are an honor"

On board the papal plane, indefinite. AFP – Pope Francis has described the attacks of ultra – conservative Catholics in the United States "of honor" Wednesday in the plane that was carrying Mozambique.

The ultraconservative wing of the Church in the United States has often criticized the Argentine pontiff for not being more clear about abortion and having too much compbadion for homobaduals and men. divorced, while seeking an approach with Muslims.

"The American attacks against me are an honor," Francisco said, referring to his critics, who accused him of moderating the church's position.

Elected in 2010, Francisco, the first pope of Latin America, made these statements during his visit to the papal plane in Mozambique, the first leg of a three-country tour of Africa. and the Indian Ocean, when a French journalist offered him the book "How America wants to" change the pope "(" How the United States wants to change the pope ").

"In an informal context, the pope has always considered criticism as an honor, especially when it came from authorized persons and, in this case, from an important country," said the new spokesman. Vatican, Matteo Bruni, to minimize the effects. declarations of the pontiff.

Nicolas Seneze, a Vaticanist of the French newspaper La Croix and author of the aforementioned book, told AFP that these statements by the pope show that he "has no intention of changing his fundamental ideas".

Seneze explained that his book "tells a particularly difficult year for the pope, during which an ultra-conservative sector of American Catholicism tried to make him resign."

A year ago, Italian archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano caused a scandal by asking, along with other ultra-conservative Catholic leaders, to resign from the pope for concealing badual abuse in the Church.

Bishop Vigano, named Nuncio in Washington in 2011, accused Francisco of ignoring the allegations of abuse committed for decades by former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The prelate, expelled in February, was one of the most international cardinals in the United States and was very influential in raising funds for the Holy See.