Pope Francis to journalists on board papal flight to US
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis spoke with reporters during the flight that took him from Cuba to the United States on Tuesday afternoon.
In response to the journalists’ questions, the Holy Father touched on a number of topics ranging from the US trade embargo on Cuba to his eagerly awaited speech to Congress on Thursday.
Expressing his hope that the US will lift its long trade embargo on Cuba as a result of negotiations, the Pope said he does not plan to raise the issue in his address to Congress this week.
“It is a public thing that is moving along the path of the good relations they are looking for (…). My desire is that they end up with a good result, that they reach an accord that satisfies both sides, an accord, certainly” he said.
And pressed about his speech to Congress, the Pope said he will address “bi-lateral relations and multi-national relations as a sign of progress and coexistence.”
Questioned about how some of his writings may have given the impression that he’s “a little bit more left-leaning” Pope Francis said he is only repeating the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Asked to comment on questions by U.S. conservative commentators about whether he’s a communist or even Catholic, the Holy Father said “I am certain that I have never said anything beyond what is in the social doctrine of the church.”
And joking about whether he was truly Catholic, he added: “If I have to recite the Creed, I’m ready.”