Pope Francis, amid the ousting of a French archbishop who allegedly broke the Catholic Church’s celibacy rule, has said that sex outside of marriage “is not the most serious sin.”
Per the Independent, the Pope held a question and answer session with reporters on Monday and was asked about the resignation of Michel Aupetit, the Archbishop of Paris, who stepped down this month after a French publication alleged that he had engaged in a sexual affair with an unnamed woman. In his role at the church, Aupetit was expected to follow clerical celibacy and abstain from sex.
“Sins of the flesh are not the most serious,” said Pope Francis on Monday. Still, he accepted the Archbishop’s offer of resignation, but maintained that he did so to avoid further “gossip” around Aupetit. “It was a failing on his part, a failing against the sixth commandment, but not a total one,” added the Pope. “We’re all sinners. When the gossip grows and grows and removes someone’s good name, he cannot govern. This is an injustice. That’s why I accepted the resignation of Aupetit: not on the altar of truth but on the altar of hypocrisy.”
ComplexAnother eyebrow-raising statement from Pope Frank, assuming this isn't another poor translation or something that will be later "clarified" or retracted.
