Don't be hypocrites-Pope Francis to Catholic church

The Pope made the shocking remarks during morning mass at his residence in the Vatican.

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“It is a scandal to say one thing and do another. That is a double life. There are those who say, ‘I am very Catholic, I always go to mass, I belong to this and that association…

"My life is not Christian, I don’t pay my employees proper salaries, I exploit people, I do dirty business, I launder money, [I lead] a double life. There are many Catholics who are like this and they cause scandal,” he said.

“How many times have we all heard people say ‘if that person is a Catholic, it is better to be an atheist?” he added.

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This is not the first time the head of the 1.2 billion-member church has caused a stare with his comments. He had previously spoken about relaxing the Catholic Church’s rules on divorce and has called on priests to welcome all persons regardless of their sexual orientation.

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Pope Francis is the first non-European head of the church in millennia and was elected in 2013 following the rare decision by Benedict XVI to abdicate the position.

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He has spoken out against the lavish lifestyle of some priests and called for the church to adopt a new posture that has the poor at heart.