Walls: In Francisco, I saw, first, for the priest

Andrea Tornelli

“After the first moment you say yes, this is the Pope, in personal conversation, you realize that, above all, this man was a priest …” They are the words of Spanish writer Javier Cercas, subsequent self, author of “The Madman of God at the Head of the World”, who asks Francisco Francisco to Mongolia. We called him on the phone to ask him how his reaction was to the news of the death of the Pope.

“Obviously, I was surprised, because I thought, as everyone thinks, that Francisco was already due to the danger. The previous day has left in Plaza de San Pedro! I felt as if someone was very close to me had died: it’s the truth. Very sorry.

Cercas recalls the feeling of the parents who planted those who knew him: “The Pope who realized his mistakes, who did not hide his faults, was shown as a man, and therefore, he could be the father of many people. Of course, there is also Catholic who believe that the Pope should be “almost almost”. But I think the Pope is, above all, a man. Pedro was a man. The first Pope was a man with many defects that betrayed Christ three times. “The church is the place of the weak, from sinners.”

The writer emphasizes the importance of this confession: “It seems as if I said: I am not Superman, I am a person. I want to remember that the first thing he said in the Sistine Church after accepting the exception is: “I accept it even if it is a sin.” This awareness of his humanity, his weakness, is for me unusual. For me, you can say about Pope Francis, what Hana Arndt said about John XII: He is a Christian sitting on the throne of St. Peter. And its proximity is part of that. He was a man who is able to do unusual things, not expected by the Pope. I tried these things. At the end of my book, if I was a believer as the Pope and my mother, I would like to say it is a small miracle. “

Cercas recalls the conversation he had with Francisco during the trip to Mongolia: “There is a moment in the book where my mother, who was very believing, asks me: But what do you think of the Pope? How is the Pope? My mother was really very old, and her health was not good. The first thing that comes to mind is the answer: It is like a Florian, that is, as a priest, her shepherd, who married her to my father. The first impression of the Pope – after an initial moment when I said yes, this is the Pope – is that, above all, he saw in this man a priest. “First of all, he was a priest, and then, he was also many other things: a very smart man, with a wonderful culture, with great experience.”

The writer, above all, hit, “humility, this humility for a simple man, though complex. I find it unusual that this is the first Pope called Francisco. Pope Bergolio chose this name, and the first virtue of Francisco de Assis is specifically humility. I know that we are very young, that we have our human dignity, but we are a small thing. ”

Finally, Cercas accepts what Francisco has left. “Francisco brought” a revolution “to the church. However, everything depends on the meaning granted to this word. It is ridiculous to say that there is a” ideological revolution “: this is simply wrong, even if there are people who say that, but if there is a” revolution “, and this is perhaps the council, which is said in the Vatican. To the Church of Christ, to the primitive church.

During his trip to Mongolia, the writer had the opportunity to meet some of the extremist revolutionaries in the Bible: “This return to Jesus Christ, according to Francis and also for me, is better embodied in missionaries. I think the ideal Christians in Francisco are missionaries, as we saw in Mongolia: the people who give up everything, as did the messengers of Christ and go to the borders of the earth to help the needy. This is the radical nature of the message of Christ. Jesus was not a man of power or wealth, but a man who was with the poor. For me, this is essential: criticism of the clergy, the criticism of Constantinople, and the return to Christianity. Francisco was taking this seriously, which is not yet ended. ”