Francis weighed in with his view on gender and what he said was that of the emeritus pontiff while meeting privately last week with bishops from Poland during his pilgrimage there. The Vatican released a transcript yesterday of those closed-door remarks.
The pope said he wanted to conclude his remarks by reflecting on this: "We are living a moment of annihilation of man as image of God."
Without specifying, he blamed this on textbooks supplied by "persons and institutions who donate money." The pope blamed what he called "ideological colonizing" backed by "very influential countries" which he didn't identify, adding "this is terrible."
One such "colonization" he said, "I'll say it clearly with its first and last name -- is gender."
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The "colonization" theme is one he has railed against before, including during an Asian pilgrimage in 2015.
This time, though, he volunteered that he has discussed the gender issue with Benedict, who has lived at the Vatican since retiring in 2013.
Francis' ended by telling the Polish bishops he wanted them to reflect on this: "We must think about what Pope Benedict said -- 'It's the epoch of sin against God the Creator.