Image
Pope Franciscus (Photo: Twitter/@Seckin_Deniz)
- Credit:
Pope Franciscus (Photo: Twitter/@Seckin_Deniz)
Friday, 6 November 2015 - 13:01
Pope could visit Netherlands to meet "Argentine Queen" Maxima
Pope Franciscus might be willing to visit the Netherlands to meet "Argentine Queen" Maxima, he said in his first ever interview with Dutch journalists.
"The door is not closed, it is not impossible. And now that the Netherlands has an Argentine queen, who knows", the Pope said to the question on whether he would accept an invitation to the Netherlands, according to Trouw.
The interview was with Straatnieuws in collaboration with Trouw. It took place last week in Casa Santa Marta, in the middle of Vatican city. The full interview will be published in the Utrecht Straatnieuws on Friday.
During the interview, the Pope talked about his commitment to the poor and refugees and about his childhood in Argentina. He told the newspaper about a woman who came to help his mother with, for example, the laundry three times a week. "She had two kids and the family was Italian, they came form Sicily and had experienced the war there. They were very poor, but they were such good people. I have never forgotten that woman. I was truck by her poverty." He pointed out that Jesus came into the world as a poor homeless person in the world and that the church must continue to work against poverty and exclusion, because everyone is entitled to have a roof over his head.
The Pope thinks that believers must leave by example. "You can not talk about poverty and homelessness while living the life of a pharaoh." he said according to Trouw. He believes that the church should be clear and transparent when it comes to its financial management. "The temptation of corruption is always present, both in politics and in the church."