The Latest: Pope Francis to have cataracts surgery next year

VATICAN CITY — The Latest on Holy Thursday (all times local):

6:30 p.m.

Pope Francis says he has to have cataracts surgery next year.

Francis revealed the news as he bid farewell to prisoners at Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, after he performed the Holy Thursday ritual of washing the feet of 12 people.

Francis, who frequently tells inmates they need to keep hope alive, told them that they must clear their eyes every day so they can see and spread hope. He said cataracts often make it difficult to see. He says “at my age, for example, cataracts come and you don’t see reality well. Next year I have to have an operation.”

He said the same thing happens with life, when disillusionment clouds the soul. Francis urged the inmates to do a daily cleansing of their view on life — a “cataract surgery for the soul” — so they can keep having hope.

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11:30 a.m.

Pope Francis is urging priests to be spiritually close to their flocks and not insist only on preaching laws when they sin.

Francis issued the guidance during Holy Thursday Mass, which is meant to show the unity of the Catholic Church during its most solemn, pre-Easter period.

In his homily, Francis warned priests to not be tempted to “idolize” church law and doctrine when preaching, since that can distance ordinary faithful from Jesus. Even when people commit adultery, he said, priests should not condemn with legalisms. Rather, he said, priests should help adulterers to look forward, even if they have to tell them not to sin over and over.

The admonition came as conservatives have complained that Francis is dividing the church with his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Critics say Francis is disregarding church law about the indissolubility of marriage by effectively allowing adulterers access to the sacraments.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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