Diario Extra – The pope claims that whoever accuses the Church is a friend of the devil

Rome, (EFE) .- Pope Francisco today criticized those who accuse the Church and declared to be friends of the devil, because "they destroy it with the tongue", which considered it as " fashionable".

"You can not live your whole life accusing, accusing, accusing the Church (…) He whom the Bible calls the great accuser who is the devil, and those who spend their lives accusing, accusing, accusing I will not say that they are children, because the devil has only friends, cousins, parents of the devil, "said Francisco.

"And no, it does not work, we must point out the flaws that must be corrected, but at the moment the flaws are reported, the flaws are denounced, the Church is loved, without love, c & # 39; is the devil, "he added.

The Argentine pope led these reflections spontaneously during a meeting that he organized Wednesday at the Vatican with the faithful of the Archdiocese of Benevento (Southern Italy), moments before holding the meeting. general audience in the Paul VI Hall.

Jorge Bergoglio also defended the value of forgiveness and referred to the figure of Padre Pio to praise the love that he always had for the Catholic Church, despite "all the problems that he has ".

"He who loves the Church knows how to forgive, because he knows that he is a sinner and that he needs God's forgiveness, he knows how to make things right, because the Lord wants to fix things, but always with forgiveness, "he said.