Pope: Corruption is "a form of blasphemy" that "gives birth to the culture of death"

Francis has written the preface to a book that is an interview with Card. Tukson titled "Corrosion". Today, even just "imagining the future" is a very difficult undertaking, corruption even undermines the "hope" that an improvement is possible.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Corruption is a "form of blasphemy," it is the weapon, the most common language of the mafias," a "terminal process that perpetuates a culture of death " of those who carry out the crime. Today, even just "imagining the future" is a very difficult undertaking, corruption even undermines the "hope" that an improvement is possible. Pope Francis writes about corruption in the preface to the book-interview by Cardinal Peter Turkson, edited by Vittorio V. Alberti, entitled "Corrosion."

And on corruption, the Vatican is focusing on the international debate organized by the Dicastery for the Integral human development, in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Corruption, against which Francis has already spoken out several times, is now defined as the "most common language" of mafias, a "death process" that "breaks" coexistence between people, favors crime and ultimately destroys those advocate it.

The word "corrupt" recalls a "broken heart", "a shattered heart, soiled by something", "ruined" like a decomposed body.

The starting point for Francis is the "three relationships" that characterize human life: that with God, that with neighbor, that with the environment. When man is "honest," he lives responsibly for "the common good." On the contrary, the man who is bribed "suffers a fall" and the "anti-social behavior" that corruption leads to ends up "dissolving the validity of relationships". Tearing down the "pillars" of coexistence among people, "particular interests" are like a poison that "contaminates every general perspective".

In contrast, Francis concludes by recalling the "absolute beauty" of Vatican sites from where he is writing. It defines beauty not as a "cosmetic accessory", but something that "places the human person at the center". "This beauty must marry with justice" and therefore corruption must be understood and denounced because mercy is overcomes "misery", "curiosity and creativity,  resigned fatigue." The corrupt "forget to ask for forgiveness" because they are tired and unsatisfied, indifferent and full of themselves. The Church and Christians, as well as non-Christians, can be united, "snowflakes" that produce the avalanche of a "new humanism".