Pope Francis accepted an interview with the Argentine priest William Marco, talking about his priestly experience, dialogues between cardinals and brothers, and his message to different groups.
(Vatican News Network)The Argentine news website “Infobae” published an interview with Pope Francis by Father Guillermo Marcó. The Argentine priest was Pope Bergoglio’s spokesman when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. Pope Francis was interviewed on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his inauguration.
The first question of this interview was why Pope Bergoglio followed Jesus. The Pope replied: “It is difficult for me to express in words. What I can say is that when I am in harmony with Jesus, I feel peace and joy. If I do not follow because of fatigue, scheduled schedules or time constraints Jesus, I’d be bored.”
Regarding the priestly vocation, what attracted Pope Bergoglio the most, the Pope said, that is “commitment to service”. “Once a priest told me that the area where he lived was poor, not a slum, but not bad. His house in the parish was next to the church. He told me that when he had to close the door, people would knock on his window. So he said to me, “I want to close the windows because they give you no peace.” People give you no peace. On the other hand, he also told me that if he closed the windows, then He doesn’t get peace, it’s worse. Because once you get into the rhythm of service, every time you’re selfish, it feels bad. The vocation to service is more or less like that, you can’t imagine A life that I do not serve. After I have experience as a priest, I will not trade anything else for my priesthood. Even if there are limitations, mistakes, and sins, you are still a priest.”
Then Fr Willem Marco asked about the friendship between the cardinals. “They will have different opinions,” said the Pope, “and the positive thing is that they tell you what they think. My fear is that you act behind your back and don’t say what is on your mind. There is communication in the College of Cardinals.” , new and old cardinals have the freedom to speak, and I thank God for that. I don’t know if everyone is like this, but many cardinals are outspoken. Sometimes some cardinals say: “You have to be careful about this , be alert.’ Thanks, I’ll take care of this and fix it.”
With this interview, Fr Willem Marko asked the Pope to say a few words to different groups. After urging children to “take care of and talk to their grandparents”, the Pope then invited young people to “do not be afraid of life, do not stop, but move forward”. “The biggest mistake is not moving forward, so move forward.”
In addition, the Pope urged parents to “don’t waste love in vain, but take care of each other, so that you can take better care of your children”. Regarding the sick, the Pope said: “Patience is easy to say, but even I cannot do it. So I understand that you will be upset. Ask the Lord for the grace of patience and He will give it to you.” The grace you need to endure all this.”
Finally, there is a message to the elderly. The Pope said: “Don’t forget that you are the foundation. The old must pass this on to the young, the children, the teenagers. … It would be too sad if the elderly were suffering. Worse than the sad face of youth. So go forward and be with the youth.”
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