Posted on 04/23/2013 5:42:19 AM PDT by Portcall24
The following is a transcript of an interview between CHRIS MATHEWS, MSNBC atheist American journalist and then Cardinal Bergolio. It is clear why the interview was never broadcast. I have no idea of the level of authenticity.
REPORTER: Welcome Cardinal.
BERGOGLIO: Thank you. Happy to speak with you.
REPORTER: Well, let me get into it directly. Last conclave, you were almost elected Pope. Can this happen again?
BERGOGLIO: What? That I will almost be the Pope, again?
REPORTER: No. Will you be the next Pope?
BERGOGLIO: Friend, I’m only jesting with you. I understand the question. I will not be the next Pope.
REPORTER: Why not?
BERGOGLIO: I chose not to. God has someone else in mind I’m certain.
REPORTER: But you would take the job if it were offered.
BERGOGLIO: I think not.
REPORTER: Why not.
BERGOGLIO: I believe I’m too embroiled in the secular fiasco. It is a spiritual job and I’m a soldier. Look at the nature of power. In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power. I’ve been a keen observer of the effect this has on the people, especially the poor. They are very good at creating poverty where there is no reason to explain it. My job is try to alleviate poverty and if that means to oppose the ‘cause then I will not be Pope.
REPORTER: But you are worried you would be a spend thrift pope?
BERGOGLIO: Friend. Where did you go to school?
REPORTER: La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania and….
BERGOGLIO: And after that?
REPORTER: College of the Holy Cross.
BERGOGLIO: They told me you were Catholic. Once elected the Pope is by virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error. God would change any spend thrift politician into a responsible Pope. I’m just saying I’m not that man.
REPORTER: So what is your job?
BERGOGLIO: My job is to ask you, “why are men creating poverty?”
REPORTER: What do you mean?
BERGOGLIO: I mean that poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition. The ideology that adds to the poverty must be denounced. I have and this is the reason I will not be Pope. I have a saying for myself, “No more poverty than God originally intended in the fall from Grace.”
REPORTER: Oh.
BERGOGLIO: It is a spiritual choice and I’m a political person. I’m sorry. I know you will make more money from this interview if I’m Pope. Or want to be Pope. But I’m sorry. I can’t help you. God has already chosen someone anyway. Right? You learned this in school?
REPORTER: Yes. Well… Where are you on the issues that matter most, issues about contraception, women priests?
BERGOGLIO: This might be a surprise to you, but I am Catholic. We are Catholic. It isn’t an issue and for you to pretend that it is being debated goes against God.
REPORTER: If you were Pope then you would not change anything.
BERGOGLIO: Certainly God would direct the new Pope to have more compassion for these newly created poor. And if there is any social justice in the Church, the new Pope would have a stern word for the creators of the new situation.
REPORTER: But you are staunchly orthodox on the issues of abortion, contraception, and same-sex marriage.
BERGOGLIO: I am catholic.
REPORTER: You were punished for opposed same-sex marriage in Argentina. You opposed free contraception and the government exiled you. What do you have to say about that?
BERGOGLIO: I am catholic.
REPORTER: In the secular world, as you say, you follow the conservative line. You oppose, uh, same-sex marriages, very popular with young people. You are conservative on birth control. Won’t that be the doom of the Church, alienating young people who support reality based faith?
BERGOGLIO: Since God created the world, he also created reality. You seem to be arguing that a man can’t be Catholic in reality. Son, you are a Catholic?
REPORTER: Yes, of course. I meant no disrespect.
BERGOGLIO: You don’t have to worry about offending me.
REPORTER: Okay, good. Can a, uh, Pope even be elected if he is pro-choice or pro-love? I mean isn’t the election sort of fixed in favor of anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, the election is fixed by God.
REPORTER: Very witty.
BERGOGLIO: Well, you did ask.
REPORTER: It is being reported in America that you are against marriage equality. Is that why you feel that you can’t be Pope?
BERGOGLIO: God chooses the Pope and God also made men and women different.
REPORTER: But you are …a conservative and oppose abortion!
BERGOGLIO: Friend the expression on your face gives you away.
REPORTER: I’m sorry, I’m just trying to do my job.
BERGOGLIO: And what job is that?
REPORTER: I’ve been sent to interview eight men in line for the papacy.
BERGOGLIO: And I guarantee you that they all oppose abortion. So…
REPORTER: But…
BERGOGLIO: So, you feel like you need to alienate the eight from the flock?
REPORTER: That isn’t it. How can the church attract young people when it is opposed to abortion and contraception?
BERGOGLIO: Young people are just as attracted to the truth as they are convenience and expediency. So we will call it a draw.
ugh— too bad it is a fake...I LIKED IT!
Damn! Thanks. Should have checked there myself but was overtaken by hope!
Fake, but accurate.
One is reminded of the “fake but accurate” assertions made by Dan Rather in support of his vendetta on George W. Bush.
That was in support of a liberal agenda.
The thing is, the statements made appear to be plausible, and in the era of the low-information voter, just the thing for swaying weak minds that lack any critical analytic thinking capability.
If Snopes told me the sky is blue, I’d be headed to a window to check before believing it.
I read the Snopes account.
It only provides evidence that the reporter probably wasn’t Chris Matthews. Which makes sense because Chris Matthews isn’t an atheist.
Snopes seems to indicate that Chris Matthews was attributed as the journalist at a later date.
The source of the interview is sketchy. Call this one “questionable”, or “possible fake”...but not a flat out “fake”
The origin to this story is from the Telegraph. See this link: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100208720/did-pope-francis-really-say-that-socialism-causes-misery-and-that-america-is-heading-towards-a-form-of-communism/
I sent my son to Holy Cross
He came back a total loss.
O Holy Cross, O Holy Cross
Where all they eat is apple sauce
They eat it morning noon and night
They even eat it when they're tight. etc
http://tinyurl.com/Damian-Thompson-Pope-Francis
Then Damian Thompson of the Telegraph, published it in his column with explicit cautions that it had not been verified; then, in updates, Thompson himself concluded it was a hoax.
Then the Diocese of Surrey took it off their website.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/matthews.asp
Finally, Snopes.com found it to be a fake. Fun, but fabricated.
Thanks. Attention to detail is important and I give myself a failing grade on this one.
You also failed to search for a previous FR article in which the “interview” was debunked.
Actually I took the title you see and put the entire then into search and got nothing back.
It is true: FR search only seems to work in the most optimal circumstances. So it was more of a site failure than yours. But at least some more people might find out the true status of the interview through this extra posting.
I agree and am happy to help...just disappointed in my originally wasting bandwidth on something that was bogus to begin with.
You're better off selecting one word, especially if one is unique and searching for that.
Incorrect. The search function works well, providing you possess the intelligence to use it properly and are not lazy.
I guess as a past Fortune 500 lead System Programmer, lead Database Administrator and lead System Administrator (corporate wide), I am not intelligent enough to use FR search correctly. Out of Christian charity I will hold my fire on the return invective.
I have always suspected the search routine runs out of resources at times before delivering completed results.
It definitely wasn’t wasted — it’s just that unsourced emails deserve the highest degree of skeptical inquiry — worse than Glenn Beck’s website LOL.
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