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Archbishop Michel Aupetit in Paris has resigned after he was accused of having an intimate, consensual relationship with a secretary.
Speaking to reporters, Pope Francis responded that “sins of the flesh” are not as serious as spiritual sins like pride or hatred.
The pope argued that spiritual sins have far greater consequences.
This comment came while speaking with journalists on his flight between Greece and Cyprus on Monday.
As he resigned, Aupetit said, “I poorly handled the situation with a person who was in contact many times with me.”
Pope Francis said, “It was a failing against the sixth commandment, but not a total one, one of small caresses, massage given to his secretary – that is what the accusation is.”
“There is a sin there but not the worst kind,” the pope added.
“He (the bishop) was condemned but by whom? By public opinion, by gossip .. he could no longer govern,” Francis said. “I accepted the resignation of Aupetit not on the altar of truth, but on the altar of hypocrisy.”
During a recent U.N. Conference, Pope Francis said climate change is actually “one of the great moral issues of our time.”
The pope has warned that humanity will be judged by God if it fails to effectively deal with the climate crisis. He added that world leaders should ask God for wisdom and strength to meet this “grave challenge” with “concrete decisions.”
“Time is running out,” he warned. “This occasion must not be wasted, lest we have to face God’s judgement for our failure to be faithful stewards of the world he has entrusted to our care.”
During the U.N. Climate Conference, the pope also compared the effects of climate change to those of World War II. “The wounds inflicted on our human family by the Covid-19 pandemic and the phenomenon of climate change are comparable to those resulting from a global conflict,” the pope said.
“Today, as in the aftermath of the Second World War, the international community as a whole needs to set as a priority the implementation of collegial, solidary and farsighted actions,” the pontiff continued.
In his message, the pope supported “the goals set by the Paris Agreement” in 2015. There is “no alternative” to battling climate change, he added.
This message was read aloud by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Francis returned to the same analogy later in his remarks. He said that “in the near future, environmental migrants will be more numerous than refugees from war and conflicts.”
The pope told nations to sacrifice “greater human, financial and technological resources to mitigating the negative effects of climate change.”
In conclusion, the pope pressed wealthier nations to “take a leading role in the areas of climate finance, decarbonization in the economic system and in people’s lives, the promotion of a circular economy, providing support to more vulnerable countries.”
The pope argued that there is “no denying” that some nations have a growing “ecological debt” to poor nations because of their “disproportionate use” of natural resources.
“The developed countries ought to help pay the ecological debt by significantly limiting their consumption of nonrenewable energy and by assisting poorer countries to support policies and programs of sustainable development,” he said.
