Pope will return to Rome with 50 migrants from Cyprus 0:50
(CNN) -
Pope Francis defended the Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, who recently resigned on allegations that he was intimate with a woman, saying the archbishop was the victim of petty gossip.
"I accepted his resignation not at the altar of truth, but at the altar of hypocrisy," the pope said during a meeting with the press upon his return from Athens, Greece, this Monday.
The pope admitted that the archbishop had been guilty of "little caresses, massages" to his secretary, but assured that those "are not the worst sins."
"He failed against the sixth commandment, not totally ... but it is a sin. But sins of the flesh are not the worst sins," Francis said, citing pride and hatred as most important.
The Pope accepts the resignation of the Archbishop of Paris allegedly involved in an "intimate relationship" with a woman
The archbishop denied that the relationship was sexual.
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"If we don't know, we can't condemn," Francisco said.
The pope blamed gossip and public opinion for forcing the archbishop to resign.
"When the gossip increases and increases to the point of taking away a person's reputation, they can no longer govern," Francisco said.
"Our church is not used to a sinful bishop, we want to pretend that a bishop is a saint but we are all sinners."
Pope Francisco
