On Catholic fundamentalism: what Pope Francis said....

Herewith the question and answer from the press conference in which Pope Francis made his remarks about fundamentalism within the Catholic Church. My own translation, with my emphasis added in the English translation so that I can refer to it below.

(Philippine De Saint-Pierre, responsabile della televisione cattolica francese KTO)

Santo Padre, buona sera. Lei ha reso omaggio alla piattaforma creata dall’Arcivescovo, dall’Imam e dal Pastore di Bangui, e oggi più che mai sappiamo che il fondamentalismo religioso minaccia il pianeta intero: l’abbiamo visto anche a Parigi. Allora, di fronte a questo pericolo Lei pensa che i dignitari religiosi debbano intervenire di più in campo politico?

(Papa Francesco)

Intervenire in campo politico: se vuol dire “fare politica”, no. Faccia il prete, il pastore, l’imam, il rabbino: questa è la sua vocazione. Ma si fa politica indirettamente predicando valori, valori veri, e uno dei valori più grandi è la fratellanza tra noi. Siamo tutti figli di Dio, abbiamo lo stesso Padre. E in questo senso, si deve fare una politica di unità, di riconciliazione… - e una parola che non mi piace, ma devo usarla - di tolleranza, ma non solo tolleranza, convivenza, amicizia! E’ così. Il fondamentalismo è una malattia che c’è in tutte le religioni. Noi cattolici ne abbiamo alcuni, non alcuni, tanti, che credono di avere la verità assoluta e vanno avanti sporcando gli altri con la calunnia, con la diffamazione, e fanno male, fanno male. E questo lo dico perché è la mia Chiesa, anche noi, tutti! E si deve combattere. Il fondamentalismo religioso non è religioso. Perché? Perché manca Dio. E’ idolatrico, come è idolatrico il denaro. Fare politica nel senso di convincere questa gente che ha questa tendenza, è una politica che dobbiamo fare noi leader religiosi. Ma il fondamentalismo che finisce sempre in una tragedia o in reati, è una cosa cattiva, ma ce n’è un po’ in tutte le religioni.

(Question from Philippine De Saint-Pierre, of the French television station KTO) 

 Holy Father, good evening. You have praised the platform created by the Archibishop, the Imam and the Pastor of Bangui, and today, more than ever, we know that religious fundamentalism threatens the whole planet: we have seen this also in Paris. Well, faced with this danger do you think that religious dignitaries must intervene more in the political field?

(Pope Francis)

Intervene in the political field: if that means "to do politics", no. To be a priest, a pastor, an imam, a rabbi: this is their vocation. But they do politics indirectly preaching values, true values, and one of the greater values is brotherhood between us. We are all children of God, we have the same Father. In this sense, we must carry out a politics of unity and reconciliation - it is a word that does not please me, but I have to use it - of tolerance, but not just tolerance, living together, friendship! It's like this. Fundamentalism is a disease that is present in all the religions. We Catholics have some, not some, many, who believe they have the absolute truth and move ahead sullying others with calumny, with defamation, and doing evil, doing evil. And I say this because it is my Church, we as well, all of us! We must fight this. Religious fundamentalism is not religious. Why? Because it leaves out God. It is idolatrous, like the idolatory of money. To do politics in this sense of persuading these people who have this tendency, is a politics that we religious leaders must do. But the fundamentalism that ends always in a tragedy or in offences, is a bad thing, but there is a little of it in all the religions.

Pope Francis' references to idolatory, and to the idolatory of money, contain a reference back to his answer to an earlier question during the press conference, though seen in isolation from that they appear a bit out of context or exaggerated. We can see that a headline to the effect that "Pope Francis condemns Catholic 'fundamentalism'" misses the context that is there when Pope Francis' answer is read as a whole - namely that it represents a situation of fundamentalism as a challenge in all religions, which includes Catholicism. It is also worth noting Pope Francis' understanding of what constitutes fundamentalism - not the claim to absolute truth, but the movement from that claim to truth to an unyielding deprecation of others (cf my emphasis and note the "and" in Pope Francis' words).

Pope Francis' answer - and the wording of the question - also hint at a much wider discussion that might be had about the engagement of religion in the field of politics and power.

[As an aside, it is also possible to recognise in the reference to a "politics of unity and reconciliation" an inspiration that is found in the Movement for Unity in Politics of the Focolare movement.]