One of the graces that I value most in my life are the gestures of friendship that Pope Francis has given me, in an unusual mixture of paternal closeness and porteño good humor.
I met him in the distant year 2000, in the curia of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, but our friendship really began in the assembly of Aparecida in 2007.
Memories are piling up in my memory. In these moments of sorrow, I am writing my testimony at the request of Omnes, trusting that we can learn, through these anecdotes, Francis' catechesis on friendship.
I will begin by recounting my memories through his letters written in his own handwriting. To avoid indiscretions, I will quote the most significant ones. They reveal some of the characteristics of his personality: gratitude, good humor -with the ironic touch of his hometown-, closeness and trust in prayer.
While he was still Cardinal of Buenos Aires, he wrote me some letters -always accompanied, inside the envelope, with some holy cards of the Virgin Desatanudos, St. Joseph and St. Therese of Lisieux- to thank me for sending him a book or some information about the apostolic activities of the Opus Dei in the Argentine capital.
On one occasion, I sent him a book that included some of his words. In a letter dated October 22, 2010, in addition to thanking me for the book, his reaction to being quoted was the following: "As for the quotes in the conclusions, they are one more step until you are "quoted" in the Funeral Notices of La Nación" (the characteristic newspaper for this kind custom).
After his election as Roman Pontiff, my surprise was great when, on four occasions in one year, I received an envelope from the Nunciature that contained, in turn, another smaller envelope written by Francis in response to my letters, in which he had even put the zip code of my house. In the missive dated June 6, 2013, he encouraged me to evangelize "in these times when the waters are moving. Blessed be God. As I addressed him as "you" in Buenos Aires, and told him that I would now address him as "you". YouFrancis added: "I was amused that you stopped being trusting... you will get used to it (after all, I have gone down a category: before I was a Cardinal, now a simple bishop)". As in the letter, I was referring to the anniversary of my priestly ordination, the Pope pointed out: "You have already been a priest for 22 years. It is impressive how time passes. I have been twice as long and it seems like yesterday". He never failed to ask for prayers: "I ask you, please, to continue to pray for me and to have me pray for you".
The next letter I received was to thank me for a book I had written about him that a friend had sent him. On July 4, the Pope commented that this friend had brought him "the book that you dared to write about me. What a nerve! I promise to read it and I am already convinced that you will find in my writings metaphysical and ontological categories that surely have never occurred to me. I'm sure I'll have fun. I am also sure that your pen will do people good. Thank you very much." And, again, the request for prayers: "Please don't forget to pray and have prayers said for me. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin take care of you".
At the end of 2014 I moved from Argentina again to Rome. The following year, I sent him a book on the great Russian writers. The Pope's admiration for those classics is well known, and in particular for Dostoevsky. Commenting on the book and the richness of Russian literature, he wrote a December 3, 2016: "At the base is that programmatic phrase (I do not remember whose), "nihil humanum a me alienum puto". (nothing human is alien to me), or the experience of the most Christian pagan, Virgil, "sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt". (there are tears in things and they touch the human part of the soul)". At the same time, he encouraged me to continue writing about literary classics as a means of evangelization.
On the occasion of a message in which I told him that I was going to Ecuador, he answered me by return mail, on February 3, 2022: "Have a good trip to Ecuador. Give my greetings to the Sorrowful Mother of St. Gabriel School in Quito. Every day I say a prayer to her". The Pope was referring to a miraculous image found in a school run by the Jesuits in the Ecuadorian capital. I fulfilled his wish, praying for a few minutes for his intentions in front of the image, together with the religious community of the school.
The last letter I have is dated August 4, 2024. The Pope had published a document on the importance of literature in the formation of pastoral workers. I was in Cameroon, and when I read this document I got excited and sent him a message through his secretary. The response was immediate: "Thank you for your email. Thank you for your encouragement. Some Italian bishops asked me to do something about the humanistic formation of future priests... and I dug up these notes that I had written a long time ago. In this you are not my "master" with your books. Cameroon has a good soccer team. I pray for you. Please do it for me. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin watch over you. Fraternally. Francis.
The cell phone calls have also left an indelible memory of his friendship. From a personal meeting in 2016, which coincided with my birthday, he began to call me every year to give me his congratulations. Precisely in 2017 he called when I was celebrating Holy Mass. I came across an audio message, in which he greeted me for the birthday, assured me of his prayer, asked me to pray for him and added that, if he could, he would call me that afternoon. At about 3:00 p.m. I was receiving a person when the cell phone rang. When I took it out of my pocket, the communication was cut off, but I could see that it was him. I then got in touch with his secretary, to tell him that I was touched that the Pope tried to connect with me for the second time. I told him to convey my thanks and my prayers for him. Within five minutes, the Pope was calling me for the third time! As soon as I picked up the phone, he exclaimed, "How hard it is to talk to you!"
A year later, I admit that I was already expecting papal greetings. He did not call me until the following day. Incredibly, he explained to me as if he had to explain that he had had me in his thoughts all day, but had not had the physical time to greet me.
At the end of 2019 and in the first months of 2020 I had frequent contact with the Pope, expressing his closeness. In November I told him, through his secretary, that my mother had broken her hip. I asked for his prayer and blessing for my mother. I was very surprised to see my cell phone ring ten minutes after I had sent the e-mail. It was the Pope. He asked me how old my mother was, what her name was, and added that he was sending his blessing and that he would keep an eye out for her. Thank God, the operation my mother underwent went well, and I shared this with Francis in a letter which, once again, received an immediate written response.
A little later I had a complicated dermatitis. I unburdened myself in a letter, telling him that I was offering my discomfort for him and for the Church. He called me the next day. With a unique Porteño irony, he asked me what I called the disease. I answered: "Dermatitis". "No -he replied-, it is scabies", trying to give a touch of humor to the painful situation. Immediately, he was interested in my state of health and thanked me sincerely for offering the disease for him.
A few weeks passed, and I received painful news: one of my best friends since my elementary school years, a priest of Opus Dei, had died a victim of COVID. Once again I shared my suffering with the Pope, because Francis knew this priest very well, belonging to a family friend of his. Shortly after, he called me to console me: "Don't worry, Pedro was a saint, and he will be in Heaven". I told him that I had cried like a child when I heard the news. With much affection, he confided to me that those tears were very healthy, and that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children. He also asked how the "scabies" was going.
The string of contacts continued: birthdays, thanks for sending a book. Once he even wanted to know if I had the phone number of a mutual friend. Typical friendship stuff. Thinking about those calls, I came to the conclusion that, besides the prelate and my brothers in Opus Dei who live in my house, and my family in Argentina, only Francis shared my concern for my mother, my dermatitis, the pain of the death of a friend, and the joy of my birthday. Many were present in one or another of those circumstances, but only he was present in all of them. And, as is obvious, he was not exactly the least busy person among my friends.
If I am encouraged to tell these things, it is because I am aware that my case is by no means unique. Hours and hours of his pontificate - of his life - have been spent in this kind of gestures and conversations, of closeness and friendship. On difficult occasions and on joyful occasions, always with good humor and trust in prayer. In this moment of sorrow, the memory of the Pope is that of a friend who was in all of them, who lived with me what he preached all over the world.
