Pope Francis could visit Oceania for the first time, confirming in a televised interview that he has several foreign trips planned for this year, including a mid-year trip to Polynesia and a potential visit to Argentina. Source: Crux.
In a new interview, Pope Francis said he is in good health and has no plans to resign.
Asked whether he was considering resignation, the Pope said, “It’s neither a thought nor a concern nor even a desire.”
Pope Francis spoke to Italian journalist Fabio Fazio on the popular television program Che Tempo Che Fa, which was broadcast Sunday night.
In the 50-minute interview, Francis touched on a variety of issues in addition to his health, including war, migration, future travel plans, and the recent controversy over his decision to allow non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples.
He also spoke of international travel plans for 2024, announcing that he intends to travel to Polynesia in August and that a potential trip to Argentina is being discussed for later in the year. Francis, in a previous interview, said he will also visit Belgium this year.
On Argentina, a trip that would mark his first return visit since his election, he said, “I want to go, it’s been ten years. I would like to go.”
The Pope also touched on the recent controversy caused by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorises priests to give spontaneous, non-liturgical blessings to couples in irregular situations, including divorced and remarried couples and those in same-sex unions.
Pope Francis said that at times, “decisions are not accepted,” and that people don’t really understand what they are criticising.
“The danger, the thing I don’t like, is to arrive at ugly conclusions,” he said, referring to accusations of heresy, instead of “talking, expressing doubts, and carrying forward a fraternal discussion.”
He said this is what happened with Fiducia Supplicans, and insisted, as he often has, that “the Lord blesses everyone, everyone, everyone, those who come. Every person.”
FULL STORY
Pope in new interview talks health, resignation, future travel plans (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
RELATED COVERAGE
Pope Francis: Escalation in war frightens me (Vatican News)
Pope Francis is not thinking of resigning, talks blessings (CNS)
