On Monday, December 6, Pope Francis told reporters that “sins of the flesh are not the most serious.” The pope was taking questions from reporters aboard the papal plane during their flight from Cyprus and Greece back to Rome.
“Sins of the flesh are not the most serious,” the pope explained, referring to sexual relationships outside marriage. Instead, he said that pride and hatred are “the most serious of sins.”
The pope’s comments were made during interviews about the resignation of Archbishop Michel Aupetit, the disgraced archbishop of Paris, France. The pope declared that the sins of the flesh were still sins but not as great as pride and hatred. He also called the archbishop of Paris a victim of an injustice.
The 70-year old resigned on December 2 after admitting that he had “ambiguous” relationships with a woman in 2012. Le Point, a French magazine, first published news of Aupetit’s sexual relationship. According to the Los Angeles Times, the article from Le Point used “several anonymous sources who said they had seen a 2012 email that Aupetit had sent by mistake to his secretary.”
Aupetit responded to Le Point, explaining he had a consensual, intimate relationship with a woman but denied having any sexual relationships. The archbishop said he was greatly disturbed by the attacks against him. He chose to resign “to preserve the diocese from the division” due to the loss of trust.
Pope Francis told the reporters that he accepted Aupetit’s resignation not because of the sin but because of the “damaging rumors.” “I accepted the resignation of Aupetit not on the altar of truth, but the altar of hypocrisy,” he added.
“He was condemned but by whom? By public opinion, by gossip,” the pope told reporters. He added that the rumors and the caustic public opinion made Aupetit unfit to govern.
The pope also expounded on his responses, saying, “it was a failure against the sixth commandment, but not a total one.” The pope was referring to the “massage(s) given to his secretary,” which were acknowledged by Aupetit. “There is a sin there but not the worst kind,” the pope added.
