“Domestic violence is a problem that, in my view, is almost satanic.” Pope Francis said this on Sunday evening on the Italian channel TG5.
The reason is a report by the European Commission and the World Health Organization showing that domestic violence has increased since the start of the pandemic.
“It’s humiliating, very humiliating. Women can only hold back the blows. It’s almost satanistic, because it takes advantage of the weakness of someone who can’t defend himself,” the Pope said in a special program titled “Francis and the Invisibles.”
The Pope also discussed the program with women who have been victims of violence. “I see a lot of dignity in you,” he told a woman who had to flee with her children. “If you had lost your dignity, you wouldn’t be sitting here.”
It is not the first time that the Pope, who turned 85 on Friday, has spoken out strongly about violence against women. Last year he also compared intimate partner violence with sacrilege.
The European Commission and the World Health Organization report shows that the number of women who are abused and beaten at home has “multiplied” since the start of the corona pandemic. Since January, 112 women have been murdered in Italy, more than half by their (ex) partners.
