Memories of Pope Francis

By friar Carlos A. Trovarelli, OFM Conv., Minister General of the Conventual Franciscan Friars

Speaking from the depths of my heart, I wish to honor Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio who became Pope Francis by means of a conclave and the Holy Spirit.

I met Bishop Bergoglio in Buenos Aires between 1996 and 1997. He was the auxiliary bishop in charge of the deanery where our friary and Provincial Curia are located. I returned to the same friary from 2007 to 2015, this time as Minister Provincial. By then, Bishop Bergoglio had already been made an archbishop and a cardinal. Then came his surprise election as Bishop of Rome in 2013, and, even more surprisingly, he took the name of “Francis.” A few weeks after he was elected, I went to Rome, as part of my duty as President of the Federación América Latina Conventuales (FALC).

I was looking forward to greeting him. As he was walking to the chair, he spotted me and gave me a thumbs-up. Then, when the long-awaited moment came for us to greet one another (which was actually a hug), he called me by name!

I witnessed a transformation in him. When he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires he wasn’t always popular; he came across as austere and reserved. He was a shepherd of his flock, not a “policeman of the masses.” He never refused a request for a meeting.

In 2010, he accepted my invitation to preside over a Mass during the General Assembly of our Order, held in Pilar, Argentina. He arrived “quietly” and presided “quietly.” He did not join us for lunch, rather, he ate in the kitchen with the cooks.

I noticed the transformation that took place when he was elected Pope, a transformation in his communicative and pastoral style. Pope Francis was no longer just someone who kindly responded or opened the door—he came to meet you; not just as a shepherd devoted to the flock, but as someone who saw you and recognized you from afar.

After I was elected Minister General in 2018, our General Chapter had an audience with the Pope. As he entered the Clementine Hall, Pope Francis left his path to the chair and came toward me and embraced me. His pontificate has been consistent with the evangelical principles and values that always defined him. I believe he deeply internalized the meaning of Mercy, to the point that his gestures became not only fatherly, but also motherly and brotherly. He spoke through signs and his decisions with a unique ability to orient and anticipate the future. Not only did he want to remain consistent with his life choices and evangelical proclamation, he wanted to propose them to the Church and the world. He became a symbol of his own vision of the world and of faith.

I will never forget the times I was able to meet with him—his phone calls to respond to me, his handwritten messages, his willingness to see me and listen to me, and the care he took in addressing whatever was possible for him.

He was like a father, a mother, and a brother to me.