Known for Speeches that preach mutual respect among family membersWas Pope Francis Defended the figure of the mother-in-law during a weekly audience in So Pedro Square this Wednesday (27), Vatican,
The pontiff asked the believers to remove the stigma around them, but he sent a message: “You, mother-in-law, I say to you: be careful with your tongue, because the tongue is one of the most terrible sins. Mother-in-law”.
Francis spoke about the prejudices surrounding old age when he addressed the family relationship between a daughter-in-law or son-in-law and mother-in-law. “We always think of the mother-in-law as a wicked person, but the mother-in-law is the mother of her husband, of his wife,” Pope continued among the general audience.
He urged people to discard the idea that the farther the mother-in-law is, the better, and said that one of the most beautiful things in a grandmother’s life is watching her grandchildren grow up. “At least it is necessary to make them happy, so that they can grow happily into old age,” he said.
“May God help us, by doing so, to grow in harmony in families, the creative harmony that passes from the elderly to the young, the positive bridge that we must preserve and protect.”
This is not the first time that the pontiff has spoken out about his mother-in-law, nor are his comments—sometimes ironic—of the stigma surrounding the subject unheard of. In a speech on a tour of America two years after taking office, he said: “Families fight and sometimes the dishes can fly. Kids give you a headache. I won’t talk about mother-in-law.”
A year earlier, the Times of Israel recalled, Francis had made a similar comment in Rome: “We all know that the ideal family does not exist. The ideal husband does not exist, and neither does the perfect wife. Come on. Let’s talk about the best mother-in-law.”
The pontiff sat throughout this Wednesday’s audience and apologized for it, explaining that he had a knee pain that forced him to cancel appointments in recent days. “It takes a while for this knee to heal and I can’t stand for long.”
The Pope canceled the appointments this Tuesday (26) due to pain, and his examination last Friday (22). They also canceled the programs for February and March, but came Visit Malta for two days,
The Argentine newspaper La Nacional Francisco said he had torn a ligament and was treating the pain with ice and painkillers. He said he was told the problem was improving over time, but that the process would be slow at his age – Pope is 85.
