SIC NEWS INTERVIEW
Donald Trump said this Thursday that he has nothing against Pope Leo XIV, but that he has the right to disagree with the leader of the Catholic Church.
In an interview with SIC Notícias’ Evening Edition, D. Rui Valério, Patriarch of Lisbon, appeared perplexed by the position taken, highlighting the importance of religious freedom and the recognition of religious discourse in a society.
“It perplexes me that the United States, in its identity, was built as a country that is based on freedom, starting with religious freedom, which includes the recognition of religious discourse, the citizenship of religion in the context of a society”, he began by saying.
Last Monday, Donald Trump published a photograph generated by Artificial Intelligence in which he resembles Jesus Christ, a publication that comes after he accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” and supporting crime.
O Patriarch of Lisbon appeared “speechless” in the face of this comparison and considered the instrumentalization of Jesus Christ for political purposes shameful.
“I am speechless with these comparisons. It is a shameful instrumentalization of the person of Jesus Christ himself, because the ends are always those of a political nature, of moving forward, and then a modern society evokes the name of Jesus Christ to grasp his right style, of open doors, an open heart, treating everyone as a brother, promoting respect and recognition of others as people”, he highlighted.
In recent weeks, the Catholic Church concluded the process of providing financial compensation to victims of sexual abuse. According to the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, with 57 requests already approved, the amounts to be paid will be around nine to 45 thousand euros. In total, the compensation will cost more than one million euros.
The new president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, Virgílio Antunes, considered this Thursday to be fair for the State to exempt financial compensation for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church from taxes.
When confronted about the matter, D. Rui Valério left a word of solidarity with the victims, saying that this chapter is sad and shameful in the Church.
