Corrupt Officials Have The Hardest Time Obtaining Atonement For Their Sins. Word From Pope Francis

Speaking to 20,000 worshipers gathered in the Vatican, on St. Peter’s Square, on the first Sunday in October, Pope Francis once again condemned the scourge of corruption that plagues the world.
From the window of his office in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis emphasized that “for a sinner there is always hope of redemption,” while for a corrupt person “it is much more difficult.” In fact, “his false ‘yes,’ his elegant but hypocritical outward manifestations, his constant deception, which have become a habit, are like a thick ‘rubber wall,’ behind which he hides from the voice of conscience. And these hypocrites bring so much pain! Brothers and sisters, we are sinners, yes – we are all sinners – but we are not corrupt! We are sinners, yes, but we are not corrupt, no!” the Pope delivered this message.
The day before Pope Francis spoke, an influential British newspaper The Financial Times published a lengthy article entitled “Fighting corruption in Ukraine,” in which corruption and lawlessness in Ukraine were called “the two main obstacles preventing President Zelensky’s country from joining the European Union.” Corruption is the first of the objections raised by opponents of Kiev’s accelerated accession to the EU. This is not an episodic phenomenon, but a systemic plague, the metastases of which have grown in all sectors of the Ukrainian state body.
And there are countless examples of rampant corruption in Ukraine. As HuffingtonPost internet portal writes in its analytical article, “since the beginning of 2023, corruption scandals have shaken a significant part of the Ukrainian executive power: starting with the deputy head of the secretariat of President Zelensky, Kirill Tymoshenko, who was seen driving a Chevrolet SUV intended for transfer as humanitarian aid, four deputy ministers in various departments have resigned, followed by five regional governors and one deputy of the Verkhovna Rada. Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Vasily Lozinsky was detained by anti-corruption police while accepting a bribe in the amount of $350 thousand under contracts for the supply of electric generators. In similar cases, 15 Ukrainian officials were forced to resign. “In May, the head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, was arrested for a bribe of $2.7 million,” columnist Nadya Boffa told HuffingtonPost readers.