republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
The Pope made the remark while speaking on the much broader topic of God’s wrath against evil and injustice.
“God’s wrath is against injustice, against Satan. It is directed against evil, not that which derives from human weakness, but evil of Satanic inspiration: the corruption generated by Satan, behind which single men, single women, entire societies go. God’s wrath is meant to bring justice, ‘clean up,'” the 84-year-old Francis said.
“The flood is a result of God’s wrath,” the Pope continued. “He is a figure of God’s wrath, who according to the Bible has seen too many bad things and decides to obliterate humanity. The biblical [flood], according to experts, is a mythical tale. (Now I hope someone doesn’t argue that the Pope said the Bible is a myth!) But myth is a form of knowledge. The flood is a historical tale, archaeologists say, because they found traces of a flood in their excavations.”
“The story of Noah shows that God’s wrath is also a savior,” Francis concluded.
The excerpt also included Francis’s thoughts on prudence in government, saying that “prudence is an essential virtue for those who govern.” The Pope also spoke about faith and doubt in the lives of Christians.
The release of these papal remarks comes in advance of the Pope’s visit to Iraq this week. It is the first papal visit to any country since the COVID-19 pandemic began and is believed to be the first visit by any pope to a Middle Eastern country besides Israel.
It is hoped that the visit will bolster the Christian population of the region, which had suffered so terribly under ISIS rule. Christians still find themselves under attack by Islamic extremists in the region.
The trip will include a meeting between Francis and the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims. Open Doors, which maintains a world watchlist of Christian persecution, currently lists Iraq as the 11th most dangerous country for Christians.
Hopefully, the Pope can use his influence to make some inroads in Iraq about the treatment of Christians there.
But he may wish to study the Great Flood a little more.
Pope Francis describes the evil events preceding the flood accurately enough. Genesis 6:5 says, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually.”
We all know the story. Noah alone was found righteous by God; the ark was built and the flood destroyed everything but Noah, his family, and the animals on the Ark. God’s wrath fulfilled, just as Francis described.
The pope does his first TV interview and calls people fools... Who did he insult…