‘Pope Francis as I knew him’, the portrait of a man who became bishop of Rome

“It can be excluded that, in a still undetermined future, will renounce the pontificate with reasons similar to those of its predecessor? No, it cannot be excluded at all. He was the one who clarified it to us, in a very direct way as usual “. To write it is Lucio Brunelli, former Vatican newsman of Tg2 and director of information for Tv2000 and Inblu Radio, the broadcasters of the CEI, in his latest book Pope Francis as I met him (St. Paul). Far from being only a rundown of autobiographical memories, the volume traces a portrait, in many ways unpublished, of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the man, the priest, the cardinal who became bishop of Rome.

A book that lets you read in one breath, full of important news for those accustomed to telling the Vatican world, but which also has the precious value, especially of these times, of restoring the reader to the authentic face of Bergoglio. Of that deeply austere and mystical Argentine and Jesuit priest, but far from detached, isolated and unapproachable. Indeed, the portrait of a man emerges who cares about the value of selfless friendship, which is increasingly rare today, and who knows how to cultivate sincere relationships. Despite the multiple commitments of a cardinal and even a Pope. But also of a bishop deeply linked to his people, his poor and his priests, suddenly called to the top of the Catholic Church.

Yet Brunelli, author of the famous scoop on the 2005 conclave in which he revealed that it was Bergoglio and not the confrere Carlo Maria Martini the real challenger to Joseph Ratzinger, do not spare twists. As when he asks himself, and as a very expert reporter he answers clearly, if Francesco will follow one day Benedict XVI on the road to resignation: “He will do the same. If and when he should feel that his body and mind will no longer be able to support the papal’s arduous commitment. Only the good god knows if and when. The rest are guesswork. Some friends in Argentinefor example, he thinks that the Pope’s trip to his homeland will be the last of his trips, because Francesco da Buenos Aires he will announce his resignation and will never return to Rome. “Legends, fantasies” he commented when I reported these thoughts to him. ”

The Vatican expert is also convinced that “if one day his health conditions will really force him resignation, I don’t think, but I never talked about this with him, who will continue to wear the white suit. I always thought then that he would prefer the title of ’emeritus bishop of Rome’ to that of ’emeritus pontiff’. A small clue I saw in his first greeting to the faithful from the lodge of blessings, on the evening of March 13, 2013. At the beginning of the speech he wanted to invite the Romans who came to St. Peter’s Square to recite a prayer for Benedict XVI, who defined our ’emeritus bishop’ “.

Brunelli also recalls that “in subsequent speeches Francis he will no longer call Benedict ’emeritus bishop’ but will always use the official name, ’emeritus Pontiff’. A gesture of respect towards his predecessor, which he had established thus. But I remain convinced that Francis, per se, would prefer the title that most refers to the function of the Pope as bishop of the Eternal City; a formulation, ’emeritus bishop of Rome’, perhaps even less cumbersome for the Pope who will come after him, the future successor of the apostle Peter “.

Just on the subject of conclaveBrunelli recalls how Francesco himself “confided to journalists that he had voted for Ratzinger” for his freedom to say things “, referring to the famous meditation of the via crucis on” dirt in the Church “”. And he reveals that, at the end of 2007, Bergoglio “told him that the Vatican Secretary of State, the cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had proposed to him on behalf of the Pope an important assignment at the Vatican. But he was very happy to be a bishop in Buenos Aires, the director contact with the people satisfied him. He replied to Bertone that he thanked the Holy Father very much but that he, if possible, declined the invitation. ‘Tell His Holiness that if I come to the Vatican I commit suicide’, He said in a playful but not too much tone. He did not feel suitable for the curial bureaucracy “. But in 2013 he returned to the Vatican as Pope. Forever?

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