During an interview on a private Italian television channel for the program “Che tempo che fa” (What weather! editor’s note), Francis anticipated a new appointment: in March, the nun Raffaella Petrini will lead the Governorate of Vatican City. The Pope also responded to the plans of the new Trump administration to expel migrants: “if that is the case, it will be a shame, we cannot make the poorest pay the bill for the imbalances in society.”
Salvatore Cernuzio – Vatican City
A woman, Sister Raffaella Petrini, will take charge of the Governorate of Vatican City State for the first time next March; This is the announcement made on Sunday by François during the interview given to the Italian channel “Nove” at the start of the evening. Taking part in a question-and-answer game with journalist Fabio Fazio, the Pope also commented on several current events, taking note with sadness of a possible mass deportation of immigrants in the United States; he spoke of his joy for the truce in Gaza, reiterating hope for a two-state solution. He also returned to the reception of migrants, the Jubilee, the opening of a Holy Door in prison, the fight against abuse, and his health.
François had already given an interview to the same program in 2022, then a second in 2024. Sunday evening, this new interview of around an hour, was the opportunity to present his autobiography entitled Hope, published last week simultaneously in a hundred countries: a delicate work composed of numerous stories “which give an idea of my way of being”.
Sister Petrini at the head of the Governorate
After reassuring about the condition of his arm after his fall and the bruise on Thursday, the Holy Father revealed that from March, after the retirement of Cardinal Fernando Vergéz Alzaga, the current secretary Sister Raffaella Petrini will be president of the Vatican Governorate. One more woman, therefore, at the head of an important administration, after the appointment of Sister Simona Brambilla to the post of prefect of the dicastery for Consecrated Life. “The work of women in the Curia is something that has progressed slowly and has been well understood. Today we have a lot of them”commented the Pope listing the missions entrusted to female personalities at the Vatican. “Women know how to manage better than us”he concluded on this subject.
Plans for mass expulsions of migrants in the United States
The Successor of Peter then answers a question about the United States, in light of rumors about a possible plan for mass expulsion of immigrants after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. A possibility that he describes as “shame”who would “pay the bill for the imbalance to the poor wretches who have nothing”.
Reception of migrants and birth rate
On the subject of migration, Pope Francis repeats the “four verbs” to deal with the emergency: “the migrant must be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated”. Returning to the theme dear to him of the decline in birth rates, observing the situation in Italy where the average age is «46 ans»he affirmed that when a society no longer produces children, it must welcome migrants.
Middle East: a two-state solution
The journalist does not fail to ask a question about the war in the Middle East, with the start of the truce in Gaza on Sunday and the release of three female Hamas hostages. As he did after the Angelus prayer on Sunday, the Pope expressed his gratitude to the mediators before dwelling on the hypothesis of a two-state solution: “I believe this is the only solution. Some want it, others don’t.. “Peace, he adds, is superior to war.but it is necessary «courage» to do it, because “often we lose something, but we gain more”. War, on the other hand, “is always a defeat”, insisted Francis, reaffirming the value of negotiations and denouncing the «grands» revenues of arms manufacturers who drive “to destruction”.
Don’t forget the prisoners
The Pope then spoke of hope, a theme at the heart of the Jubilee: it is “the anchor” to cling to, he stressed, taking up the image of his homily during the opening of the Holy Door of the Roman prison of Rebibbia. An unprecedented gesture that the Pope desired “because I always carry prisoners in my heart”. “Don’t forget the prisoners”he said, “many of those outside are more guilty than they are.”
Shame and pain for the Shoah
As Remembrance Day approaches on January 27, the Pope said he felt “a feeling of pity and shame” for the tragedy that he was able to experience up close during a visit to Auschwitz in 2016, with stories, films and the testimony of the “big dame” Edith Bruck, 92-year-old Hungarian poet, Holocaust survivor.
Abuse, young people, sins
Other themes were discussed during the interview: abuse, “a very great evil” against which we must “to fight with strength”; the emergencies of“to accompany” young people; proximity to “everyone”sans “angelism” in the vision of sins and without “reduce everything to the sins of the flesh”. “I am disgusted to see that some, in the confession, are still looking for this”said the Sovereign Pontiff. “There is no sin that cannot be forgiven” he repeated, “because God wants to have everyone with him, like children, like brothers among us”.
The “first fall” in the Sistine Chapel
Finally, Jorge Marie Bergoglio revealed some curious anecdotes like his “first fall” on a step in the Sistine Chapel, immediately after the election, to greet a cardinal in a wheelchair: “the infallible Pope began by failing: he stumbled!” Then he concluded the interview with a request on the occasion of the Holy Year: “don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Move forward with courage. And don’t lose your sense of humor.
