Pope- "Do not read blogs that call me a heretic"

Since the Second Vatican Council, there are resistance to reforms in the Church, says the Pope. They tried to relativize and dilute the council. How he himself deals with this resistance, the Jesuit Francis let be known in a conversation with friars.

Pope Francis ignored in his own words denigration by ultra-conservative critics on the Internet. He knew the resistance against him and the groups behind it, he said in a Thursday meeting with Jesuits in Santiago de Chile during his trip to Chile on 16 January. Further, Francis said, "For mental health reasons, I do not read these internet sites of the so-called resistance."

If he experiences resistance, he tries to engage in dialogue, if that is possible, according to Francis. But some resistance comes from people "who believe they are in possession of true doctrine and accuse you of being heretical." Such resistance is regrettable, but it is necessary to proceed further. "If I cannot recognize spiritual benevolence in these persons, I simply pray for them."

At the end of September last year conservative critics of the pope spread a "Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis" ("A filial correction concerning the propagation of heresies "). In the letter, which met with approval above all in conservative blogs, the authors claimed that Francis had promoted "directly or indirectly" heretical attitudes to marriage, morality, and sacramental doctrine that differed from church doctrines. "We respectfully insist that your Holiness publicly rejects these theses," the letter said.

Resistance has existed since the Second Vatican Councl

The conversation with Jesuits in Chile was published in the text on the website of the Italian Jesuit magazine, "Civilta Cattolica". The Pope approved the transcript, the journal said.

The resistance that existed after the Second Vatican Council is still there today, the Pope continued. They tried to relativise and dilute the Council. Some people told him that resistance was normal when someone wanted to make changes. After all, it is a great temptation to say, "what we all have experienced", "that it has always been done that way".

At the same time the Pope admitted that not all difficulties should be prematurely labelled as resistance. One must always take into account that it also contained a "grain of truth" and the resistance could go back to a misunderstanding. "That also helps me to relativise many things," says Francis.

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