Pope Francis paid tribute on Wednesday to mothers-in-law, often victims according to him of the most trivial “cliches”, while urging them to “be careful [leur] language”, particularly in their dealings with their daughters-in-law.
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During his general audience in Saint Peter’s Square, devoted this Wednesday morning to relations between generations, the sovereign pontiff made a long digression on “the mythical character” of the mother-in-law.
“The mother-in-law, I’m not saying that we see her as the devil, but she is always presented in a pejorative way. But the mother-in-law is your husband’s mother and your wife’s mother,” he said.
“We say to ourselves that the mother-in-law, the further away she is, the better. But no, she’s a mother, she’s an elderly person. One of the most beautiful things for a woman is to have grandchildren. When her children have children, she comes back to life,” continued the 85-year-old Argentine pope.
To daughters-in-law, Jorge Bergoglio issued this warning: “Take care of your relationships with your mothers-in-law. Sometimes they are a bit special, but they gave motherhood to your spouse,” adding, “At least make them happy.”
And finally to mothers-in-law, François addressed this warning: “I tell you, be careful how you express yourself [les écarts] language is one of the nastiest sins of mothers-in-law”.
On this occasion, the pope asked forgiveness for having presided over the general audience seated, still greatly diminished by knee pain which forced him to recently cancel several engagements.
“I beg your pardon because I will greet you seated”, he launched to his faithful at the end of the audience, at the end of which the sovereign pontiff traditionally likes to take a walk in the crowd.
“This knee is slow to heal and I can’t stand for long. I apologize, thank you,” he added to applause.
Francis, who began his tenth year of pontificate in March, suffers from “acute” pain in his right knee, which has recently prevented him from participating in certain events or presiding over celebrations.
It was with great difficulty in getting around that he made a two-day visit to the Mediterranean island of Malta earlier this month.
He also suffers from hip pain which makes him limp and underwent a delicate colon operation in July 2021.
The pope told the Argentine daily La Nacion last week to treat his pain, due to a ruptured ligament, by placing ice on his knee and taking painkillers.
His pain should disappear eventually, according to his doctors, but the healing process “is slow at his age”.