The Pope sat down with Italian journal La Civilta Cattolica on Thursday, in an interview where he touched on the necessity of finding balance in the church, identified his favorite artists, and spoke on the controversial topics of abortion, contraception and gay marriage-issues he hasn't explicitly addressed in the recent past.
"We have to find a new balance," he said in the article that will be published in Jesuit publications worldwide. "Otherwise, even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.
He stressed the need for openness and understanding when it comes to the church's strict rules on homosexuality and abortion.
The Pontiff acknowledged that he hadn't talked about these topics of homosexuality and birth control because the church must discuss them "in a context," according to AP.
"It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time," he said.
But this time, it seemed, was the right one: on the isse of homosexuality in the church, the pope opened up on past exerpiences in Argentina, when he received letters from people who said they'd been "socially wounded" once the church turned its back on them due to their sexual orientation, NBC reported..
"But the church does not want to do this," he said. "Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.
"A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: 'Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?' We must always consider the person."
The Pope also commented on his favorite films, books and painters, naming Fellini's "La Strada" as his favorite movie and "The Betrothed" as a work he wants to read - for the fourth time.
"I identify with this movie, in which there is an implicit reference to St. Francis," he said of "La Strada."
"I have read 'The Betrothed,' by Alessandro Manzoni, three times, and I now have it on my table because I want to read it again...When I was a child, my grandmother taught me by heart the beginning of 'The Betrothed': 'That branch of Lake Como that turns off to the south between two unbroken chains of mountains...'"
Pope Francis is known for being the "People's Pope," and has demonstrated he's not like his predecessors - he reaches out personally to those in need, pushes for more transparency on the inner dealings of the church and even has a Twitter, @Pontifex.
