Street roots., November 13, 2015, Page 8, Image 8

News
Page 8
BY STUN FENS, JAN-WILLEM WITS
AND MARC
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
t is still early when we arrive at the service
entrance of the Vatican, to the left of Saint
Peter’s Basilica. The Swiss Guards have
been informed of our arrival and let us pass.
We head to the Domus Sanctae Marthae,
because that is where Pope Francis lives. The
Domus Sanctae Marthae is a unique three-star
hotel. A large white building where cardinals
and bishops reside while serving in or visiting
the Vatican, it is also the official residence of
the cardinals during the Conclave.
Here, too, they are expecting us. Two ladies
behind the reception desk, just like in any
hotel, kindly indicate a side door. The meeting
room has already been prepared. It is a fairly
large space, with a desk, a sofa, tables and
chairs, and it is the Pope’s meeting room
during the week. Then, the wait begins. Marc,
a vendor of Street Roots’ sister paper
Straatnieuws, in the Netherlands, is the most
patient of us all, waiting, seated in his chair,
for what will come.
Suddenly the Pope’s official photographer
appears. “The Pope is arriving,” he whispers.
And before we know it, he walks into the
room: Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2
billion Catholics. He is carrying a large white
envelope.
“Please, sit down, friends,” he says with a
gentle wave of his hand. “How nice to have
you here.” Close up, he gives the impression
of a calm, friendly man who is both energetic
and precise. Once seated, he apologized for
speaking Italian, rather than Dutch. We
forgave him immediately.
I
Street Roots • Nov. 13-19, 2015
Street Roots • Nov. 13-19, 2015
News
Page 9
Pope Francis
gives an
interview to the
International
Network of
Street Papers. At
left, Marc, a
Straatnieuws
vendor, shows
the pope copies
of the Dutch
street paper.
A world with no poverty:
In a rare interview, Pope Francis opens up to street papers about his
childhood in Buenos Aires, his life in Rome and his advocacy
PHOTOS
BY FRANK DRIES,
STRAATNIEUWS I
INSP
‘We must always fight
Francis: Yes.
'
INSP: Were you good?
Francis: No. In Buenos Aires, those who
played football like me are called pata dura.
Which means having two left legs! But I
played anyway; often I was the goalkeeper.
INSP: How did your personal commitment to
the poor begin?
INSP: Do you miss contact with people?
INSP: It is evident that you enjoy your
appointments in St. Peter’s Square during the
General Audience.
Francis: It’s true. Yes, it’s true.
INSP: Your namesake, Saint Francis,
embraced radical poverty, and even sold his
Gospel book. As pope, and the bishop of Rome,
do you ever feel underpressure to sell the
treasures of the church?
International Network of Street Papers:
INSP: Did you play football, too?
Francis: I would like to, but we wouldn’t be
able to manage it. Because the moment I
leave here, the people would come to me.
When I went out into the city to change the
lenses in my glasses, it was 7 o’clock in the
evening. There was barely anybody in the
streets. They drove me to the optician, and as
I got out of the car, there was a woman who
saw me and cried: “It’s the pope!” And then I
was inside, and all the people were outside.
Francis: I don’t miss it, because the people
come here. Every Wednesday, I am in Saint
Peter’s Square for the General Audience, and
sometimes I go to one of the local parishes. I
am in contact with the people. For example,
yesterday (Oct. 26) more than 5,000 gypsies
came to the Paul VI Audience Hall.
Straatnieuws interviews always begin with a
question about the street on which the interviewee
grew up. Holy Father, what do you remember
about that street? What images come into your
mind when you recall the streets of your
childhood?
Pope Francis: From when I was 1 year old
to when I entered the seminary, I always lived
on the same street. It was a simple
neighborhood in Buenos Aires, with one- and
two-story homes. There was a small square,
where we played football. I remember that I
used to sneak out of the house to play football
with the boys after school.
My father worked in a factory that was just
a few hundred meters away. He was a
bookkeeper. And my grandparents lived within
50 meters. We were all just a few steps from
one another. I also remember the names of
the people, when as a priest I went to give the
sacraments, the final comfort for so many,
who called for me and I went, because I loved
them. These are the memories that first come
to mind.
Marc would like to invite you to come have a
pizza with us. What do you say?
Yes, so many memories come to mind. A
woman who worked in our home three times a
week to help my mother comes to mind. She
helped with the laundry, for example. She had
two children. They were Italian and had
survived the war; they were very poor, but
they were very good people. And I have never
forgotten that woman. Her poverty struck me.
We were not rich. Normally we made it to
the end of the month, but not much more. We
didn’t own a car; we didn’t go on vacations or
things like that. But she often needed even
the most basic items. They didn’t have
enough, and so my mother gave her things.
She eventually went back to Italy, and then
later she returned to Argentina. I found her
again when I was the archbishop of Buenos
Aires, and she was already 90.1 was able to
assist her until her death at the age of 93.
One day, she gave me a medal of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, which I still carry with me
every day. This medal, which is also a
memento, is very good for me. Would you like
to see it?
(With a bit of difficulty, Pope Francis
manages to pull out the medal, now
completely discolored after years of use.)
With this, every day I think of her, and of
how she suffered from poverty. And I think of
all the others who have suffered. I wear it, and
I use it to pray.
INSP: What is the Church’s message for those
who are homeless? What is the concrete meaning
of Christian solidarity for them?
Francis: Two things come to mind. Jesus
came into our world without a home, and he
chose poverty. Then, the church seeks to
embrace us all and says that it is a right to
have a roof over your head. Popular
movements work toward the three Spanish t’s:
trabajo (work), techo (roof) and tierra (land).
The church teaches that every person has the
right to these three t’s.
INSP: K>w often call for heightened attention
for the poor and for refugees. Are you not afraid
that this might lead to a sort of overload in the
media and in society in general?
Francis: We all have the temptation —
when we have to face an issue that is not
pretty, that is difficult to talk about, to say:
The second temptation is making
agreements with governments. Certainly
agreements can be made, but they must be
clear agreements, transparent agreements.
- For example, we manage this building, but the
r accounts are all closely controlled, in order to
INSP: It is your duty?
avoid corruption. Because the temptation for
: corruption is always present in public life.
Francis: Yes, it is my duty. I feel it inside
Both political and religious. I remember once
me. It is not a commandment, but as
that I saw, with great pain - when Argentina
individuals we all must do so.
under the military regime entered into war
with Great Britain over the Falkland Islands -
INSP: Do you not fear that your support for im that people donated items to charity, and I
the homeless and other groups plagued by
saw many people, including Catholics, who
poverty might be exploited politically? How can
were responsible for distributing those things
the church speak out so that it has influence
to the needy, and who instead took those
and, at the same time, manage to steer clear of
items home for themselves. The danger for
political posturing?
corruption is always present
Once I put a question to an Argentine
Francis: There are paths that lead to
t minister, an honest man. One who stepped
errors at that point. I would like to call
' down from his position because he could not
attention to two temptations. The church must «agree with certain things that were not
speak the truth and also with a testimony: the
sufficiently transparent I asked him: When
testimony of poverty. The believer who speaks you send assistance, whether it is in the form
of poverty or of the homeless, but who lives a
of meals, clothing or funds, to the poor and to
life of luxury, that will not do. This is the first
the indigent, of what you send, how much of it
temptation.
arrives to those who need it, of the money
“Oh, let’s not talk about this anymore. This
thing is just too difficult.” I understand that
the possibility of overload exists, but I do not
fear it. I must continue to speak about the
truth and about the way things are.
and materials, items that are sent? He said to
me: 35 percent. Which means that 65 percent
is lost. That is corruption: a bit for me,
another bit for me.
INSP: Do you believe that up to now under
your pontificate you have been able to achieve a
change in mentality, for example in politics?
Francis: I am not sure how to respond. I
don’t know. I do know that some have said
that I was a communist. But that’s a category
that is a bit antiquated (he laughs). Perhaps
today we use different words to say that.
INSP: Marxist, socialist.
Francis: They’ve said all those, too.
INSP: The homeless have financial problems,
but they cultivate their own freedom. The pope
has no material needs, but he is considered by
some to be a prisoner of the Vatican. Do you ever
wish you could trade places with the homeless?
Francis: I remember the book by Mark
Twain, “The Prince and the Pauper,” when
you can eat every day, you have clothes, a bed
to sleep in, a desk to Work on and nothing is
lacking. You also have friends. But Mark
Twain’s prince lives in a golden cage.
INSP: Do you feel free here at the Vatican?
Francis: Two days after having been
elected pope, I went to take possession of the
papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. It is
not a luxurious apartment. But it is wide, and
large. After having seen the apartment, it
seemed to me to be a bit like an upside-down
funnel, so large but with only one small door.
That means being isolated. I thought to
myself: I can’t live here, simply for mental
health reasons. It would not be good for me.
At the beginning, it seemed a bit strange, but
I asked to stay here, at the Domus Sanctae
Marthae. And this is good for me, because I
feel free here. I eat in the dining hall where all
the guests eat. And when I am early, I eat
with the staff. I meet people, I greet them,
and this makes the golden cage a bit less of a
cage. But I miss the street.
INSP: Holy Father, Straatnieuws vendor
Francis: That is an easy question. They are
not the treasures of the church, but rather the
treasures of humanity. For example, if
tomorrow I wanted to auction off
Michelangelo’s Pieta, I couldn’t, because it is
not the property of the church. It is located in
a church, but it belongs to all humanity. This
is true for all the treasures of the church. But
we have begun to sell the gifts and other
things that are given to me. And the proceeds
from the sales go to Monsignor Krajewski, my
Almoner. (Archbishop Konrad Krajewski is in
charge of distributing money to the poor.) And
then there is the lottery. There were some
cars that were sold or given away with a
lottery, and the proceeds were used for the
poor. There are some things that can be sold,
and these are sold.
INSP: You do realize how the wealth of the
church might create this type of expectation?
Francis: Yes, if we were to make a catalog
of all the church’s possessions, we could
think: The church is very rich. But with the
Concordat with Italy of 1929 on the Roman
Question, the Italian government at the time
offered the Church a large Roman park. The
Pope at the time, Pius XI, said: No, I only
want half a square kilometer, in order to
guarantee the church’s independence. This
principle is still valid.
Yes, the church possesses a great deal of
real estate assets, but we use them to
maintain the church’s structures and to fund
the many works carried out in needy
countries: hospitals, schools.
Yesterday, for example, I had 50,000 euro
($55,000) sent to the Congo for the
construction of three schools in poor villages;
education is so important for children. I went
to the administration, I made the request, and
See POPE, page 1*1