VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis talked about Europe's "lack of forward-looking leaders," the success of the Jubilee, and media "sickness" in an interview with the Catholic weekly Tertio, excerpts of which were released by the Vatican Wednesday.

 “That ‘No more war!’ I think is something that Europe [after the First World War] said sincerely, and Schumann, De Gasperi, Adenauer all said it sincerely. But then… In today’s world, we lack leaders. Europe needs leaders, leaders that are forward-looking,” the pontiff told Tertio, initially released for the closing of the jubilee.

 “We must be peremptory -- no religion proclaims war for the religious phenomenon. Some religious misinterpretations do, for example all religions have fundamentalist groups, all of them, even us,” continued the pontiff.

 “Something that can be very harmful in the media is misinformation, that is, in front of any situation, saying just part of the truth and not the other part. This is misinforming. Because you give only half of the truth to the listener or to the spectator, so they cannot make a serious judgement for themselves.”

 “Misinforming is probably the most serious harm that a medium of communication can carry out, because it directs opinion towards one direction, overlooking another part of the truth. And then, I believe that the media must be very clear and very transparent, and not fall into the sickness of coprophilia that is always wanting to communicate scandal, and negative thig, even if they are true. And seeing as the people have a tendency for coprophagia, a lot of harm can be caused.”

 Talking on the subject of the jubilee, Francis added “I felt that the Lord wanted this. I do not know how the idea was formed in my heart. One day I commented to mons. Fisichella how much I would love to create a Jubilee Year of Mercy, and he said ‘Why not?’. That is how it started, and it is the best guarantee that it was not a human idea, but that it came from above. I believe that the Lord inspired it. And evidently it went very well.”

 “Furthermore, the fact that the Jubilee did not happen just in Rome, but all over the world, in all the dioceses and within each diocese it created so much movement, and the people were very moved. They felt themselves called to reconcile themselves with God, to find him again, and to feel the caress of the Holy Father.”

 nkd