A follow-up to the previous post regarding the seventh commandment: “And immediately there came to mind the thief we all have inside ourselves and while I arranged the flowers I took the cross and with just a bit of force I removed it,” Pope Francis said. The idea to steal a crucifix from a priest’s corpse was a temptation. The “thief we all have inside ourselves” is likely a demon tempting its prey, although it is quite possible the temptation was natural and occurred without any demonic prompting.

From what I can see, not one Catholic commenter has tackled a news story that made the rounds 6 March. According to the AP account, which matches Rome Reports' video of the event, Pope Francis told the priests of Rome that some years prior he had removed the crucifix from the rosary of his late confessor, whose corpse was clutching the rosary in its casket. Francis claims to have kept the crucifix on his person ever since as a reminder of mercy.