Pope Francis has doubled down on his traditional views on abortion and women during his in-flight press conference coming home from Belgium.

Pope Francis wrapped up a troubled visit to Belgium on Sunday by doubling down on his traditional views on women and abortion and demanding that Catholic bishops stop covering up for predator priests — a scandal that has devastated the church’s credibility around the globe.

Francis revisited the key thorny topics of his trip to Belgium during his in-flight press conference coming home, praising Belgium’s late King Baudouin as a “saint” for having abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than sign legislation legalizing abortion.

    • palordrolap
      13•3 months ago

      A religious man I once knew reckoned the world would end if we ever had a black pope. Consequently, I kind of want to see that happen before they quit. (He wasn’t talking about the position sometimes known as “black pope” either. He definitely meant a man of recent African descent.)

      I like to think the idea of Desmond Tutu gave him the creeps.

      • Flying SquidMEnglish
        9•3 months ago

        Desmond Tutu was an Anglican, not a Catholic.

        He also said something very pithy, but quite odd for an Anglican Archbishop to say-

        When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray. ’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.

        • palordrolap
          2•3 months ago

          I know Tutu was Anglican. It’s just that he fairly frequently appeared in the news here (Britain) and given where Tutu was, his rank, and what he stood for, I imagine that might have been enough to unnerve the person I was talking about.

          There’s also that Tutu was often used humour and was joyful, and the idea of that being scary to people who might think poorly of him is kind of funny to me.