ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) 鈥� Pope Francis called female genital mutilation a 鈥渃rime鈥� on Sunday and said the fight for women鈥檚 rights, equality and opportunity must continue for the good of society.
鈥淗ow is it that today in the world we cannot stop the tragedy of infibulation of young girls?鈥� he asked, referring to the ritual cutting of a girls' external genitalia. 鈥淭his is terrible that today there is a practice that humanity isn鈥檛 able to stop. It鈥檚 a crime. It鈥檚 a criminal act!鈥�
Francis was responding to a question about women鈥檚 right en route home from Bahrain. He was asked whether he supported the protests in Iran sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by morality police after allegedly violating the country鈥檚 strict dress code for women.
Francis didn鈥檛 directly respond, but gave a lengthy denunciation of how women in many cultures around the world are treated as second-class citizens or worse and said: 鈥淲e have to continue to fight this because women are a gift.鈥�
鈥淕od ... created two equals: man and woman,鈥� the pope said.
Francis has done more than any pope to give more decision-making roles to women in the church. He has appointed several women to key governing positions, including the No. 2 in the Vatican City State administration as well as several other high-ranking management roles. He has also named women 鈥� laywomen and religious sisters 鈥� as consultors to Vatican offices dominated by male clergy, including the one that chooses bishops.
鈥淚 have seen in the Vatican, that whenever a woman enters to work, things improve,鈥� he said.
He said society would do well to follow suit, noting that his native Argentina remains a 鈥渕acho鈥� culture, but that such attitudes 鈥渒ill鈥� humanity.
鈥淎 society that cancels women from public life is a society that grows poor,鈥� he said.
Francis was also asked about new cases of clergy sex abuse and cover-up that have emerged in the French church, with evidence that a bishop was allowed to quietly retire in 2021 despite having been found guilty by a church investigation of having spiritually abused two young men by making them strip during confession. More victims have reportedly come forward since the scandal was first reported.
Francis didn鈥檛 reply when asked if such church sanctions should be made public going forward. But he insisted that the church was on the right path, even reviewing bad past canonical investigations and redoing them. He said the church was committed to not hiding abuse even if there are still some in the church 鈥渨ho still don鈥檛 see clearly, who don鈥檛 share鈥� the need for justice.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a process we鈥檙e doing with courage, and not all of us have courage,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes there鈥檚 the temptation of making compromises -- we are enslaved by our sins.鈥�
But he said the goal was toward further clarity, noting that he had recently received two reports from victims lamenting their abuse and how their cases had been 鈥渃overed up and then not adjudicated well by the church,鈥�
鈥淚 immediately said 鈥楽tudy this again, do a new judgment.鈥� So we鈥檙e now revising old judgments that weren鈥檛 well done,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do what we can. We鈥檙e all sinners.鈥�
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
