Friday, June 24, 2016

En route to Armenia

Aboard the plane this morning on the way to Armenia, Pope Francis repeated his habitual visit to greet representatives of the media who are accompanying him on the flight.

Introduced by a presentation which was made by the Director of the Holy See Press Centre, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Pope responded to two questions.


Press Conference of His Holiness, Pope Francis
en route from Rome to Armenia

Father Lombardi
Holy Father, we welcome you among us.  We greet you as part of the flying community of your friends and journalist collaborators.  We are, as is the custom during these trips, a little more than 70 in all, representing many different countries, many different media.  They say that in Armenia, there are more than 600 accredited journalists waiting for us, to do the on-site work.  We know that you will do the usual conference of questions and answers at the end of the trip, when we are on our way back, and we will also follow the habitual process now, but everyone is also waiting for an opportunity to greet you, to shake your hand.  But, I believe that we all, since we are journalists, have two questions in mind, to which we would ask you to share your thoughts, and then afterward, we will leave you in peace until the return flight.

The two questions are: one, regarding your continent, the good news that we heard yesterday from Columbia, about the progress of the peace process in Columbia; and the second concerns the news to which we awoke this morning, concerning the European continent and the outcome of the referendum (referred to as Brexit).  If you would, please tell us one or two things about these, and then we will allow you to go on with whatever greetings you choose ...

Pope Francis
Good morning to you all, and thank you, thank you very much for your company and for your work: thank you very much.  I'm sorry for speaking in front of some of you, and behind others, but they tell me that the angles are difficult!

Concerning the first question, I am happy with the news that I heard yesterday: more than 50 years of war, of guerrilla, so much blood has been spilled ... This was good news and I hope that the countries who have worked at promoting peace and who are giving their guarantee that this will continue will be binding in their endeavors to the point that things can never return, either within or without, to a condition of war.  Congratulations to Columbia for taking this important step.

Concerning the second question: I only learned the outcome after I boarded the plane because before I left home I saw Il Messaggero and the result was still not definitive.  This was the desire expressed by the people, and this calls all of us to great responsibility in order to guarantee the good will of the people of the United Kingdom and also the good will and the coexistence of the entire European continent.  This is what I hope.

Thank you very much; we will see each other again on the return flight.  And thank you, thank you again.

Father Lombardi
Thank you, thank you very much, Holiness ...

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