is harming the young. I read last week about the percentage of young people without work. Just think of the risk we run in having a generation that has never worked. Yet it is through work that a person acquires dignity by earning his daily bread.
The young, at this moment, are in crisis. We have become somewhat accustomed to a throwaway culture: too often the elderly are discarded. But now we have all these young people with no work. They, too, are suffering the effects of a throwaway culture. We must rid ourselves of this habit of throwing away. We must say no to it and say yes to a culture of inclusion and a culture of encounter, making an effort to bring everyone into society. This is the meaning I want to give to this visit to these young people, to the young people within society.
Thank you very much, my dear friends, my “saints for whom I have no devotion” and who “are lions who are not so fierce.” Thank you. Thank you very much. And I should like to greet each one of you. Thank you.
Father Lombardi
Thank you very much, Your Holiness, for this most engaging introduction. Now, each person will step up to greet you. Please come this way, so that all of you can have a chance to meet the Holy Father and introduce yourselves. Could each of you please say which agency, which television company, which newspaper you represent? In that way the pope can greet you and know who you are.
Pope Francis
We have ten hours!
The journalists file up one by one to meet the Holy Father.
Father Lombardi
Has everyone finished now? Yes? Excellent!
We truly and sincerely thank Pope Francis because for all of us, I believe, this has been an unforgettable moment and a very good introduction to this journey. Holy Father, I think you have won the hearts of these “lions” and that they will be your collaborators on this journey since they understand your message and will find ways to spread it most effectively. Thank you, Your Holiness.
Pope Francis
I thank you, too. And I ask you to help me and to assist me in this journey, for the good, for the well-being, for the good of society, the well-being of young people, and the well-being of the elderly. Both of them together, don’t forget! And I’m like the prophet Daniel, just a little sad, because I have seen that the lions were not all that fierce! Thank you very much indeed. I embrace all of you! Thank you!
Chapter Two
Rede Globo
For a Church That Is Near
Gerson Camarotti
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Pope Francis’s interview with Rede Globo during his Brazil trip received little attention in the Western media at the time, given the focus on the pope’s memorable activities at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. The interview, however, provided several key insights into why he chose a humble Ford Focus as his main vehicle in Rome and also why he chose to live at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican hotel, instead of the Apostolic Palace.
His discussion of the phenomenon of Catholics leaving for Pentecostal and evangelical churches is also significant, especially his emphasis on the need for priests—for the Church—to be close to the people. “Closeness,” Pope Francis tells his interviewer, “is one of the pastoral models for the Church today.”
During his trip to Rio de Janeiro, the Pope granted a lengthy interview in Spanish to Gerson Camarotti of GloboNews, which aired on Sunday, July 28, during a program entitled Fantástico that was broadcast over the Brazilian network, Rede Globo. An Italian translation appeared in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, on August 1, 2013. The following is an English translation of that interview, which was conducted in Spanish and Portuguese.
Pope Francis, you arrived in Brazil and were warmly welcomed by the people of Brazil. There is a historic rivalry between Brazil and Argentina, at least in regard to football. What was your reaction to such a gesture of affection?
I felt welcomed with affection that I have never experienced—a very warm, warm welcome. The Brazilian people have a big heart. I think the rivalry is now a thing of the past, because we have reached a deal: the pope is Argentine and God is Brazilian.
It’s a great solution, isn’t it, Holy Father?
I felt very welcome, with great affection.
Holy Father, you used a very simple car here in Brazil. People say that you have even reprimanded priests who use luxury cars around the world. You also decided to reside at the Santa Marta guesthouse [the Vatican hotel built chiefly to house the cardinals during a conclave]. Is this simplicity a new direction that priests, bishops, and cardinals have to follow?
These are two different things that are distinct and need to be explained. The car that I used here is very similar to the one I use in Rome. In Rome, I use a blue Ford Focus, a simple car that anyone might use. In this regard, I think we have to give witness to a certain degree of simplicity, I would even say of poverty. Our people demand poverty from our priests. They demand it in the best sense of the word. People feel sad when we, who are consecrated, are attached to money. It’s not a good thing. It really isn’t a good example that a priest should have the latest model or the latest brand. I say this to priests; in Buenos Aires, I used to say it all the time: Parish priests need to have a car because there are thousands of things that you need to do in a parish, and you need to get around. But it must be an unpretentious car. So much for the car!
As regards my decision to live at Santa Marta, it was not so much for reasons of simplicity, because the papal apartment, though big, is not luxurious. It’s nice, but not as luxurious as the library on the floor below, where you receive people, with its very beautiful works of art. It’s pretty simple. However, my decision to live in Santa Marta is based on how I am. I cannot live alone. I cannot live isolated. I need contact with people. So, I usually explain it like this: I decided to stay at Santa Marta for psychological reasons, so I wouldn’t suffer the loneliness, which is not good for me, and also for reasons of poverty, because otherwise I would have to pay a psychiatrist a lot of money. That wouldn’t be good.
It’s to be with people. Santa Marta is a home that is home to about forty bishops and priests who work for the Holy See. It has 130 rooms, more or less, and priests, bishops, cardinals, and laypeople who are guests in Rome reside there. There, I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the dining room. I always meet all different kinds of people, which is good for me. This is the reason.
Then, too, there is a general rule. I believe God is calling us at this time to greater simplicity. It’s an interior thing that he is asking of the Church. The council had already drawn our attention to this—a life that is simpler and poorer. This is the general direction. I don’t know if I answered your questions about the car, Santa Marta, and the general direction. Did I?
I have been very struck by the fact that you will be canonizing Pope John XXIII. Is he a model that you wish to hold up?
I believe that the two popes who will be canonized during the same ceremony are two models of the Church
