… It is a privilege that has been bestowed upon me by a stroke of luck; thus, sharing this experience with those who will surely value it as much as I do is a must. Share the good for it will multiply.
“Twelve pages, a twelve-page letter!,” he grumbled, referring to a letter I sent him. “But you cannot deny that it made you laugh…,” I replied. He laughed. For some reason unknown to anyone, including me – to say the least – he still puts up with my narrative as he used to during our teacher-student days.
I told him about having started to read the encyclical Lumen Fidei, and he refused to recognize any personal merit in that regard, emphasizing that Pope Benedict XIV had written most of it, adding that Benedict was an outstanding thinker who is not appreciated nor understood by most people. “Today I saw the ‘old man‘… he used the word viejo – a very common Argentine term of endearment – to refer to him and show his endearing respect. “We talked for a while. I really enjoy being able to exchange ideas with him.” When he talks about Ratzinger, Francis shows much appreciation and friendly warmth. It seems to me that he has reacquainted himself with an old friend or classmate, like the one that shows up in your life every now and then, or who was ahead of you in school, and you somehow admired, in spite of those differences that the passing of time has managed to smooth away. “You cannot imagine how humble and wise this man is,” said Francis. “So he is close to you”, I interjected, and he asked “How could I possibly do without the advice of someone like he? It would be very stupid of me to do so.”
I told him that people saw him as a more human-like figure, someone they could touch, and talk to. “How could they not talk to me? It is my duty to listen to people, console them, pray with them, hold their hands so they do realize they are not alone…”, adding that it was not easy for his entourage to accept it.
He laughed again when I said that if my Carrara grandparents were alive, and learned that I talk to him in an informal way, they would give up praying for me, assuming that I was a damned soul. My grandparents – and their parents and grandparents — believed that the Pope was a distant and unapproachable individual. So he stated once again: “This has not been an easy task, Jorge. The Pope always had too many “handlers” with lots of seniority in such position.” He went on to say that every single change introduced by him has required unthinkable efforts (and resulted in many enemies, I assume). Among such efforts, the most difficult issue has been to let him have his own agenda. That is why he refused to live in the papal apartments, because many Popes have been “prisoners” of their secretaries. “I – not my secretaries — decide who I will see.” This statement really struck a chord in me. I can feel my heart racing up when I am about to see a friend, and I doubt that I would accept seeing another person instead – and I am not the Pope nor have his power. But he would rather see who needs him. According to Francis, most Popes have been isolated for centuries, which is not good in his opinion. The Shepherd should be close to his flock. Then, we went on to talk about some personal stuff.
As usual, he showed much concern about our country situation. He could not believe that there was not enough wheat to make bread. I mentioned, as a paradox, that “You cannot possibly starve yourself to death in a Homeland blessed by bread”. He agreed with some sadness, but without making any comments about anyone in particular. As a final note, he asked me to pray for him, as he usually does. We were actually still talking (I was not going to be the one ending our chat), when he suddenly said:
- OK, I will see you around, or rather… I will read you. Take care and pray for me.
After hanging up, I could not stop thinking about it. Francis called me. I got a call from the Pope. I still feel a little bit baffled. Fortunately, I remember very well that he said: “Don´t flatter yourself, Jorge, you only got a call from a friend.”
*Journalist, writer and a former pupil of Bergoglio’s
ametalli@gmail.com
