The Pope: violence against women is Satanism, acts that humiliate because they want to take away dignity

VATICAN CITY. They can only “stop the blows” of the one who is beating them. Violence against women is “almost satanic, because it is taking advantage of the weakness of someone who cannot defend himself”. They are acts that humiliate because they want to take away dignity. The Pope scans it and denounces it in the special TG5 tonight “Francis and the Invisibles – The Pope meets the last”, edited by the Vatican expert Mediaset Fabio Marchese Ragona with Roberto Burchielli, directed by Burchielli and Dario Calleri.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio at Casa Santa Marta answers the questions of four people who have lost everything, except the hope of redeeming themselves.

Giovanna, a woman victim of domestic violence, was left without work and homeless during the pandemic. Maria, a homeless man who lived for years on the street before being welcomed to Palazzo Miglior, the Vatican dormitory run by the Community of Sant’Egidio. Pierdonato, a lifer in prison for 25 years who, thanks to study and prayer, has understood his mistakes. Maristella, an 18-year-old scout, representing all those kids who felt abandoned with the lockdown and lost contact with friends and schoolmates.

To Giovanna, who asks him “How can we do to regain our dignity?”, The Bishop of Rome says that “the number of women beaten, abused at home, even by their husbands, is so great. The problem is that for me it is almost satanic, because it is taking advantage of the weakness of someone who cannot defend himself, can only stop the blows. It is humiliating, very humiliating. It’s humiliating when a dad or mom slaps a child in the face, it’s very humiliating and I always say, never slap in the face. How come? Because dignity is the face ».

Then Giovanna asks him if “is there hope?” How can we do for a better future for everyone? ». Covid “has put us all in crisis – Francis reiterates – One way out of the crisis is to be embittered and bitterness is often done away with. The number of suicides has increased a lot with the crisis ». Therefore it is necessary “to think well what a crisis is, not be afraid of crises, look for friendly people, close people to get out of it together because you can’t go out alone and also take action to get out better”.

Mary asks him about “why society is so cruel to the poor”. Francis responds by underlining that “you speak of cruelty, that’s it, this is the hardest slap in society for you, ignoring the problem of others. Indifference, that word you used is that we are entering a culture of indifference where we try to get away from the real problems, from the pain of the lack of housing, from the lack of work “. Indeed, with the pandemic “the problems have increased because those who offer money on loan knock on the door: the usurers. A poor person, a person in need, falls into the hands of the usurers and loses everything, because they do not forgive. It is cruelty over cruelty “, this the Pontiff says” to attract the attention of the people not to be naive; wear is not a way out of the problem, wear brings you new problems. But you live on the street and in a society that is not capable of taking on that ».

So, Mary asks, “what can be done to make people’s hearts open more to the poor?”. The Pontiff comes to mind «the same recipe that the Lord used and that Our Lady used: meekness. This throwaway culture is not only with the poor, with people in need: how many times in a family there is that reality of discarding the old, discarding the grandparents “. Francesco understands that “there are cases of illness that cannot live in the family, I understand it but when automatically at a certain age you look for a retirement home to put your old man, your grandparents, in storage, not rest, in storage, see something ruthless. “

Pierdonato speaks of “repentance, in the deepest sense of the term from the Christian point of view, which concerns the person who repented is the most bitter accuser of himself and wants nothing in return. He regrets what he did. The question was is there hope for those who want change? ».

Here are the words of Francis: «The first thing that comes to my mind is a sentence from the Bible:“ hope never disappoints ”. There is a work that I like very much, which says the opposite: in the Turandot on hope it is said that hope always disappoints. Instead I tell you: hope never disappoints. There is God, not in orbit, but God beside you, because God’s style is closeness, compassion and tenderness. Your God is a God close to us and you in many years, alone, have begun to understand this closeness: it is compassionate closeness because God who is close is compassion and this compassion is not a compassion of contempt, rather it is a compassion of tenderness. God is with each of the prisoners, with any person who is in trouble. Why is he a healer? No, because he cannot go away, because his being is to be close. I can tell you one thing: God always forgives, God always forgives ». Someone may “say:” but this is a culprit “. If each of us looks inside, he will find many faults, many things, many sins, let’s say so, many mistakes, many not beautiful things. But our strength is in the hope of this God who is close, compassionate and tender, as tender as a mother. He himself says it, and for this you have that hope ».

Pierdonato says: «When we all learned about this plague of 2000, this invisible virus that brought the planet to its knees, inside the prison we felt the fear of being involved in this pandemic. He was frightened and therefore the fear of being infected was also added to the punishment. In those conditions, personal interviews were forbidden, we lived with this anxiety, this suffering of detachment that in itself prison is detachment, it is the destruction of affections. So it created many wounds that are still open. Can these wounds be healed in some way? ‘ Francis underlines «the problem of the overcrowding of prisons: overcrowding is certainly a wall, it is not human! Any conviction for a crime committed must have a hope, a window. A prison without a window is wrong, it’s a wall. A cell without a window is wrong. Not necessarily a physical window, an existential window, a spiritual window. To be able to say: “I know that I will go out, I know that I could do that or that” ». This is why the Church is against the death penalty, “because in death there is no window, there is no hope, a life is closed. There is hope on the other side but it is not here. For this the prison must have a window ». Bergoglio wants to narrate the experience of a prisoner «who worked wood and tried to find some window, let’s say, in his life; he didn’t believe, he didn’t give a damn about religion and some visitors said to him: “But why don’t you read a piece of the Gospel and try to get to know Jesus?”. And he was against it. “Know only Jesus, not the priests, not the religion, only Jesus”. Received the Gospel, he began to read a few bits. “In my heart (he said, ed) something happened, that wall in front of me fell, it opened” and since he was a good wood worker he did this (the Pope shows the wooden sculpture made by the prisoner, ed), and he told me: “This is my experience since I met Jesus”. This was done by a prisoner who saw that with Jesus the wall fell and there was a window of life ”.

The young Maristella reflects: “How can we create a healthy relationship, perhaps made up of contact, experiences and how can we now distinguish a healthy relationship from a simple acquaintance?”. The Pope highlights: «You are asking me about the wisdom of contacts; in the lockdown you missed contact with friends and family because you couldn’t go out and maybe the school didn’t work. We need contact, face-to-face contact but we have a temptation which is to isolate ourselves with other methods, for example getting in touch with the mobile phone only, the friendships of the mobile phone, the lack of concrete dialogue. You have learned from this situation that concrete dialogue cannot be made up for with online dialogue, that there is something more “. Another anecdote from the Pontiff: «A friend of mine told me who was in a restaurant and at the next table there was a family made up of dad, mom and two boys. They were at dinner and each of the four had a cell phone, they did not speak, they had contact with friends, sometimes with each other with the cell phone. This friend stood up and said “sorry you don’t know me, I am a medical professional” – he is a psychiatrist – and said “I would like to give you a suggestion, why don’t you turn off your cell phone and talk face to face?”. They looked at it, sent it to that country and continued with the cell phone. This is evasion, communication, on the other hand, is concrete, it is real ». Then, a piece of advice: “If you want to use a mobile phone, use it, but it doesn’t take away the contact with people, direct contact, contact to go to school together, go for a walk, go for a coffee together, a real contact and not virtual “.

The last question concerns faith: “At this age, how can one have a relationship with God and keep it?”. Francis argues: «In the lockdown everything goes to the test, even the relationship with God, religiosity; the relationship with God is not a linear thing that always goes well, the relationship with God has crises like any relationship of love in a family “. What should be done at that moment? «To be silent, to think of the difficulties that arise and that do not allow the relationship with God, but above all to pacify the heart. The mind can go in many places but the problem is the pacified heart; with an anxious heart you cannot seek God, you cannot maintain the relationship with God. You can seek him but you cannot maintain him because the important thing is to pacify the heart even in pain, even in difficulties ”. It is necessary to take «the Gospel, in the same Gospel it is the word of God that will settle you again; I am afraid of preachers who want to heal life in crisis with words, words, words. Life in crisis is healed with closeness, compassion, tenderness. God’s style. The Gospel gives you this ». To some, «it will seem a bit strange, but if you said to me“ Father, is it a sin to be angry with God? Say: Lord I don’t understand you … ”It’s a way of praying! So many times we get angry with dad, with mom. Children get angry with their parents because they are asking for more attention. Do not be afraid if you get angry with God, you must have the freedom of the child before God. When you get angry with dad and mom it is not good, but you know that dad and mom love you; you get angry with God because this or that doesn’t work, but you know that he loves you and He is not afraid, because He is a father and knows how we can react, we who are all children before God ».