Pope Francis’ interview with Argentinian newspaper “La voz del Pueblo”: His audiences, his meetings with people, the risk of being attacked, the emotion felt when seeing children and prisoners in pain, his car trips. His promise to the Virgin Mary that he would not watch TV and his longing… for a tasty pizza
“People are good for me”. This is what Pope Francis said in an interview (in Spanish) with Juan Berretta, of Argentinian newspaper La voz del Pueblo. During the interview, Francis mentioned the 2005 Conclave, saying: “It was clear that Benedict XVI was meant to be elected on that occasion and [cardinals] voted almost unanimously for him and I liked this very much. His candidacy was clear.” Below is a summary of the various subjects touched on.
I never dreamed of becoming Pope
“I never dreamed of becoming Pope, ever! Or even the President of the Republic or the head of the army. Some children have these kinds of dreams, I didn’t…After holding positions of leadership wherever I was sent, for fifteen years, I went back to being a confessor and a priest (here Francis was referring to the moment when he left his post as Jesuit Provincial, Ed.)… The life of a religious man, of a Jesuit changes on as needs basis. In terms of the possibility, I was in on the papabili list (a list of likely or possible candidates to be elected pope, Ed.) in the other Conclave… This time, given my age, I was 76 and there were also others who were certainly very worthy… I didn’t think anyone would nominate me, anyone…”
People are good for me
“I like public audiences, in both human and spiritual terms. People are good for me… It is as if my life goes on by interacting with people. Psychologically, I cannot live without people, I am not a monk, this is why I live in this house (St. Martha’s, Ed.). This is a guest house with 120 rooms; there are 40 of us who work in the Holy See and the rest are guests: bishops, priests, lay people who stay over. This does me a great deal of good. Coming here to the dining room, where all the people are, celebrating mass, which is attended by people who come from outside the Vatican, from the parishes, four times a week… I really like this. I became a priest so I could be with people. I thank to God for not letting me lose this desire to be with people.”
The things I miss from my life as it was before
“I miss going out into the street, this I do long for, the tranquillity of walking in the street or going to a pizzeria to eat a good pizza… I have always loved getting out and about (the Pope used the Spanish expression “callejero” Ed.). When I was a cardinal I liked going for wanders and taking the bus or the underground. I find the city enchanting, I am a city person at heart… I couldn’t live in the countryside. Here I visit parishes but I cannot go out. Just imagine if I were to go out into the street what would happen. One day I went out alone, with my driver, and I forgot to roll the window up; I forgot it was open. Chaos ensued… I was sitting in the front passenger seat; we didn’t have far to drive but people were blocking the car. It was to be expected: the Pope was out and about… Here, in truth, I am known to be lacking in discipline. I don’t follow protocol much, I find it very cold, but when it comes to official occasions, I keep to it totally.”
Sleep
“I am such a heavy sleeper that I as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light. I sleep six hours. I usually go to bed at 9 pm and read until almost 10 pm – right now I’m reading St. Silouan the Athonite, a great spiritual teacher – when one of my eyes starts watering I turn off the light and sleep until 4 am which is when I naturally wake up by myself, it’s my biological clock. Later of course, I need to take a nap. I have to sleep between 40 minutes and an hour, so I take off my shoes and lie down. Again, I sleep deeply and wake up by myself. Whenever I don’t take a nap I can feel it.”
Crying
“I cry when I see human tragedies. For example, the other day, when I saw what was happening to the Rohingya people who move around on these big boats in Thai waters and when they get to land they are given something to eat and drink only to then send them out to sea again. These kinds of tragedies make me very emotional. Sick children too. When I see what here we call “rare illnesses”, which are the result of a neglect for the environment, my stomach churns. When I see these children, I say to the Lord: ‘Why them and not me?’. I also feel moved when I visit prisons. I visited prisons on two of the three Holy Thursdays I have celebrated here. Once to the young people’s detention centre and once to Rebibbia. I have also been to prisons in other Italian cities, I have eaten with inmates and while speaking with them, this thought came to my mind: I could also be here. None of us can be certain that we will never commit a crime that will make us prisoners. So I ask myself why God did not allow me to be sent to prison. I feel pain for them, I thank God I am not there and sometimes I feel that this gratitude is convenient because they haven’t had the chances I have had… This makes me cry inside. I really feel it… I don’t cry in public. I was on the brink on two occasions but I managed to stop myself in time. I was too emotional, a tear escaped my eye but I wiped my hand across my face… One of these situations I remember, the other one I don’t. The one I remember was to do with the persecution of Christians in Iraq. I was speaking and I was deeply moved. I was thinking of the children.”
The fear of physical pain
“In general I am not afraid. I am reckless, I act without thinking of the consequences. Sometimes this gives me a headache because I speak a bit too much. As far as attacks are concerned, I am in God’s hands; I spoke to the Lord in my prayers and I said to him: ‘Look, let whatever is meant to happen, happen, I only ask you one grace, don’t make me suffer’. Because I am a coward when it comes to physical pain. Moral pain I can take, but not physical. I am a coward, not in the sense that I am scared of injections but I prefer not to have problems with physical pain. I am very intolerant to this, I suppose it is a consequence of the lung operation I had when I was 19.”
Health and pressure
“There is pressure. All those who govern feel pressure. What I find tough at the moment is the intensity of my work. I am working at a very fast pace, it’s the end-of-the-school-year syndrome which finishes at the end of June here. A thousand things all fall at the same time and problems arise… Then there are problems that arise because of what I did or did not say… The media take a word here and a word there and take it out of context. The other day, at a parish in Ostia, near Rome, I was greeting people and they had put some elderly and sick people in a gym,. They were seated and I went past greeting them. So I said: “Look how fun this is, the elderly and sick are in the same place where young people come and play. I understand you because I am also old, I have my aches and pains, I’m a bit sick too.” The next day, the newspapers wrote: “Pope confesses he is sick”. Against this enemy, it’s impossible…”
I don’t watch TV
“I haven’t watched TV since 1990. It’s a promise I made to Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the evening of 15 July 1990. I said to myself: ‘this is not for me’. The Poe said he doesn’t even watch the Buenos Aires San Lorenzo football team play: “I never watch a thing, there’s a Swiss Guard who tells me the match and the rankings every week”.
Poverty and the future of a people
“Poverty is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus came to preach to the poor, if you take poverty out of the Gospel, nothing makes sense. Is it a utopia to think that poverty can be eradicated? Yes, but utopian visions help us move forward. It would be sad if a young man or woman did not have these. There are three things we should all have in life: memory, the capacity to see the present and a utopian vision for the future… Memory with a capacity for discernment and a utopian vision in order to move forward, involving the young. The future of a people is seen in the care shown toward the elderly who are its memory and in the care shown toward the young who make it go forward.”
Today’s greatest scourges
“Poverty, corruption, human trafficking… I may be wrong in terms of the figures but what would you say if I asked you: in terms of global spending, what comes after food, clothes and medicine? Cosmetics rank fourth and pets fifth. This is serious, eh. Looking after pets is a bit like programmed love, meaning I can programme the loving reaction of a dog or a kitten and so I don’t need the experience of human reciprocity. I am exaggerating, I don’t mean that literally, but there is cause for concern.”
Pray for me
“I need the support of people’s prayers. It is an inner need, I need the support of people’s prayers.”
How I would like to be remembered
“I would like to be remembered as a good person. I would like people to say: ‘he was a good person who tried to do good things’. I don’t hope for anything else”.
