Vatican, 12 March, 2023 / 8:20 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis asked for prayers as he spoke about the future of the Church and his pontificate so far in an interview published in the early hours of Sunday.
Speaking to the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, Francis declined to evaluate his pontificate so far, saying the Lord will judge his life one day based on whether he practiced the Corporal Works of Mercy as taught by Jesus.
“The Church is not a business, or an NGO, and the pope is not an administrator who has been commissioned to balance the numbers at the end of the year,” he said, according to an English transcript published on Il Fatto Quotidiano March 12.
The interview, one in a slew of recent papal interviews to be published, marks the March 13 anniversary of Pope Francis’ election to the papacy.
“Being the pope is not an easy job. Nobody has studied before doing this,” the pope said, recalling how St. Peter also “fell” when he denied Christ.