FRANCIS

and Don BoscoFr Alejandro León, sdb

2014Quito - Ecuador

1

Francis and Don Bosco

Special collaboration: Fr. Juan Bottasso, sdb

Publishers: CSPP José Ruaro/ CSRFP

publicacionespastorales@salesianos.org.ec

To my father, Juan Carlos, who passed on his faith and confidence in Providence to me. To my mother, Reneé, who taught me to love Mary Help of Christians and Don Bosco and St Ignatius.

2

Table of ContentsPRESENTATION

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: SALESIAN ROOTS

Chapter 2: EXPERIENCE AT SCHOOL

Chapter 3: A GRAND TESTIMONY OF GRATITUDE AND FRIENDSHIP

Chapter 4: ARTEMIDES ZATTI AMONGST FRANCIS’ SALESIAN DEVOTIONS

Chapter 5: HIS LOVE FOR HIS COUNTRY, ARGENTINA, AND LATIN AMERICA

Chapter 6: SALESIAN MEMORIES THROUGH THE YEARS

Chapter 7: THE SALESIAN FAMILY AND FRANCIS

3

Chapter 8: FRANCIS SPEAKS ABOUT DON BOSCO AND HIS SONS

Chapter 9: BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

Appendices - documents

4

PRESENTATIONFrancis, the first Jesuit Pope in history, took a name which clearly indicates the Franciscan orientation he wished to seal his Pontificate with, something which has become more evident a year after his election.But his Ignatian formation is clear too, and he does not hide it: it is enough to read his interview with Fr Antonio Spadaro, s.j., editor of Civiltà Cattolica magazine, for example.Throughout his formation, especially during the first 20 years, many elements of Salesian spirituality which Providence put in his path also came to bear, and these were things he was assimilating.In his introduction to this book Father Alejandro León tells us how he found the letters reproduced here in the Salesian archives in Buenos Aires. They are of considerable interest to us for getting to know Jorge Mario Bergoglio. These letters, written when he was Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina and addressed to his friend, Fr Cayetano Bruno, provide details of his relationships with his family and individuals in it, as well as with the Salesians. The affection with which he speaks of Fr Enrico Pozzoli is touching: Fr Pozzoli baptised him and later guided him for years as a spiritual director. As a lad of some 12 years of age Jorge Mario Bergoglio spent just a year as a boarder at the Ramos Mejía Salesian College but that experience left its mark on his memory: it is astonishing the thoroughness with which he recalls names, dates and details of daily life. These call particular attention to his extremely laudatory assessment of the Salesian system of education.Reading this brief work will undoubtedly fill many sons and daughters and friends of Don Bosco with joy, but it may also be of great use in gaining a more complete picture of Pope Francis’ style and personality.To Fr Alejandro we owe enormous thanks because without his interest as a researcher this material, especially the letters which are the most interesting part, would simply have been left lying in the archives.The book was ready to be sent out to readers on March 13, 2014, the first anniversary of Francis’ election as Bishop of Rome. When it was known that he would be receiving members of the Salesian General Chapter on March 31, we chose to delay the printing so that it could include the text of his address. It becomes the finale to a work that recognises the Salesian relationships of the first Latin American Pope whose father migrated to Buenos Aires from Turin, the city which was testimony to Don Bosco’s tireless charity.Fr Juan Bottasso, sdb1 April 2014

5

PREFACEI vividly recall the joy we experienced in the Salesian Provincial House Community in Quito and the Salesian Regional Ongoing Formation Centre at the news that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio had been elected as the new Pope and had taken the name Francis.At the time the Regional Centre was running a course for Salesianity teachers, level I, with Salesians and laity from Argentina. I went to celebrate with them and especially with Fr Alejandro León, a member of the community of which I was the Rector. The following day we invited Alejandro and all the Argentines to a lunch to celebrate this great gift of God’s.Alejandro was emotional when he commented to me that he knew Cardinal Bergoglio perfectly well since he had been parish priest for nine years in a Salesian parish in Buenos Aires and Bergoglio was his Archbishop. Following that he joined me in a radio interview with “Radio de la Asamblea”. It was a long interview lasting about forty minutes. I answered questions concerning the significance of the election of a new Pope and Alejandro, when the journalist heard that he knew the new Pope, answered questions on what Francis was like.Days and months went by, and one day he mentioned the four letters that Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio sj had written to Fr Cayetano Bruno dies. I read these letters when he sent them to me in the mail and encouraged him to write an article for the Salesian Bulletin in Ecuador and to see if he could translate his experiences with Francis and the latter’s relationships with the Salesians into a book.Today I see that my words did not fall on deaf ears. I have in hand the original of the book which will soon be a reality. The title seems to me to be an evocative one: “Francis and Don Bosco”. It is evocative because Don Bosco was always a man of the Church and one of the valuable legacies he left his sons was love and fidelity to the Pope in person.God’s ways intersect during our lives. One day Jorge Bergoglio, in his early years of life, crossed paths with Don Bosco, though it wasn’t he so much who did this but his parents who began to involve their son’s life in Salesian paths by bringing him to be baptised at the San Carlos Parish, the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Almagro, in Buenos Aires, on Christmas Day, 1936.From then on Don Bosco’s presence would impact on the life of this man in certain ways. Salesians accompanied him on his journey, his formation and especially when he was deciding on his vocation. At this point God’s will enters into play, guiding him spiritually as well as the person who directed him. He did not become a Salesian, discovering that God was calling him to another path, and he sees now that his life has changed radically.In the book we have in hand, Alejandro, ‘‘the good little lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah”, leads us to the simple discovery of this great relationship between Francis and the saint of the young. He will tell us about the Salesian roots, the experience at school that strongly marked Bergoglio’s heart and

6

memory and in such a very brief period of time. He will tell us too of the testimony of gratitude and friendship which is the basis of this work, and of Salesian Brother Blessed Artémides Zatti who is one of Pope Francis’ Salesian devotions. When he was Provincial of the Jesuits, Fr Bergoglio prayed to Zatti for Brother vocations for the Jesuits.But Alejandro has not stopped there. He also introduces us to the relationship between the Salesian Family and Francis and the words by which this Pope now refers to Don Bosco when speaking to his sons.Yes, this book lets us see that the Church is one and that each one of us has a mission within it. The Salesians initiated Jorge Bergoglio’s faith journey and contributed to his education at the right moment, without knowing that one day this child, this boy would be Pope Francis, the first Latin American Pope in the Church.Thank you, Alejandro, for the book you have given us, the result of research you have carried out with dedication but especially with the love an Argentine has as a Latin American and a Salesian. Thank you for your friendship and the sincere fellowship you have shown me and expressed in a thousand ways, especially by sharing in the occasion of my Episcopal consecration and the prayers you have raised to the Lord for my new mission. Let us read this book not only with our eyes but also with our heart, as I always say, because it was written with the ‘‘heart” by this ‘‘good lion”, a great son of the Church and Don Bosco.Bishop Alfredo José Espinoza Mateus, sdbBishop of Loja, EcuadorLoja, March 5, 2014

7

INTRODUCTIONThis book is the result of research carried out at the request of Fr Juan Picca, sdb in October 2012 for the tenth anniversary of the death of Fr Cayetano Bruno, in preparation for an address at the Universidad Católica Argentina in his memory. It is in the Salesian Central Archives in Buenos Aires, in a section dedicated to Fr Bruno, that we find the four letters of Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio addressed to Fr Bruno with the intention that they be preserved in the Salesian Archives1

The life’s events are interesting. I still recall, one cold winter morning 32 years ago, my first encounter in the archives with Fr Bruno. He was working calmly and seriously amidst manuscripts and documents; I had only gone there to consult Don Bosco with God, a book by Fr Eugene Ceria, since it was out of print and just two copies were to be found there. I recall his transparent, clear gaze, his smile and his Salesian style question to break the ice:‘‘What is your name?”‘‘Alejandro León”, I answered.Then he said something to me that he repeated many times in subsequent meetings, almost as a form of greeting: ‘‘But you are a good little lion, a lion of the Tribe of Judah.”Many years later, going back through Fr Bruno’s papers in these same archives and discovering these letters, I felt he was sending me a gift from heaven and looking down kindly on me.Beginning with the discovery of these letters and later with the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope Francis, the idea was already germinating of researching his relationship with the Salesian Family and Don Bosco a little further. Fr Juan Bottasso ended up enthusing me about this project.The aim of this work is to approach this encounter between Don Bosco and Francis in a simple but serious way using an historical, genealogical, procedural, formative and theological method, 2 beginning with the Salesian roots in his family, the immersion in historical processes he went through, as an invitation for us to reinterpret his Salesian experience. This allows us to throw light on the ecclesial dimension of the Salesian charism as a gift and challenge.Drawing inspiration from the historical method, each chapter, as well as the 1 These letters were published by the Regional Ongoing Formation Centre, Quito, Ecuador, in the Formación

Permanente magazine, no. 57, January-March 2013, pp. 41-48; no. 58, April-June 2013, pp. 26-32; no. 59, July-September 2013, pp. 22-28. The fourth letter on the Fifth Centenary of Evangelisation is published here for the first time. Later they were published by ANS and the L’Osservatore Romano, in December 2013..

2 Cf. PERAZA LEAL Fernando,Iniciación al estudio de Don Bosco Uno, CSRFP, Quito, Ecuador. 2014, 344 pages.

8

documentary material, offers a brief review of this material and its socio-political and religious context so the reader may have a greater understanding of the encounter between Francis and Don Bosco. I turned to oral history testimonies3  which enable us to corroborate and enrich what we have from the documents. It is interesting to see how these testimonies coincide, despite coming from different individuals and times in Francis’ life.Undoubtedly this little book is the result of the fatherly friendship Fr Enrique Pozzoli had with the young Bergoglio and his priestly friendship with Fr Cayetano Bruno and many other Salesians.We also offer letters and messages from Mother Yvonne, Superior of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and of Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva where they wrote to Pope Francis on various occasions or made reference to his magisterium. These allow us to see how the Salesian Family is in tune with the Pope’s words and gestures.Various extracts where Francis refers to Don Bosco, the Salesians and their mission also help us to discover the assessment he makes of Salesian work. Finally, in the conclusion, we attempt to round things off following up on the theological and religious aspect of the historical method employed, attempting to find a spiritual harmony between Don Bosco and St Ignatius Loyola and therefore the roots of this familiarity that exists between Francis and Don Bosco.The text is also the result of collaboration with many friends who helped me to bring the material together, especially by their encouragement and support. I would like to thank in a special way my Salesian confreres Marino Francioni and Dante Brambilla who look after the Salesian archives in Buenos Aires, for their generous availability; and also in a particular way the researcher Margarita Silva for her invaluable collaboration in archival research. Also Frs Federico Sanfeliú, sj; Julio Olarte F., sdb; Rubén Darío Jaramillo, sdb; Jorge Rodríguez, sdb and Dr Rafael Cevallos who took on the task of reading and offering suggestions for the work.And of course Fr Juan Bottasso, Bishop Alfredo Espinoza for their support, while Mr Gabriela Chiriboga and team from Publicaciones Pastorales at the Salesian Regional Ongoing Formation Centre and Don Bosco Press all deserve my special gratitude.

3 Cf. CAVALLARO Renato, Storie senza Storia; Liguori Editrice, 2009, 280 pages.9

1 SALESIAN ROOTS

Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, Almagro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. A view from Pius IX College

As you enter the baptistery at San Carlos Parish, in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Almagro, a suburb of Buenos Aires, capital of the Republic of Argentina, you see a simple plaque beside the baptismal font, with a copy of the baptismal certificate of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, today’s Pope Francis. We see that he was baptised on Christmas Day, 1936.This simple document is a first sign of the bond between Francis and Don Bosco, since the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, built by the Salesians in 1910, (they arrived in the country on November 14, 1875, and took possession of the San Carlos Parish in 1878), became the primary centre for spreading devotion to Don Bosco’s ‘Madonna’.

Sketch of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians

He was born in Flores, another suburb (his family lived at 531 Calle Membrillar, in an apartment shared by a number of families as was customary in Buenos Aires in the early decades of last century), however Jorge Mario was baptised in Almagro. Why? Undoubtedly because his family

10

had strong connections with San Carlos Parish, but more especially with the Salesians of Don Bosco.This “Salesian” connection goes back to a time when his father, Mario José Francisco Bergoglio, migrated from Asti where he was born, to Turin and lived on Via Garibaldi and Corso Valdocco, from where he attended the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Valdocco. He came to know various Salesians there, so much so that when emigrating to Argentina he brought with him a letter for the Salesians in Buenos Aires. When he arrived on the Steamship Giulio Cesare, on January 25, 1929, he went straight to the Salesian Don Bosco House, in Congreso (suburb of BA) and attached to the Mater Misericordiae church, also known as the Italian church. They provided lodgings there while he organised his forward journey to Paraná, where his uncle, Juan Lorenzo, had set up a factory. It was here, at Don Bosco on 252 Calle Solís, where Mario José would come to know Fr Enrique Pozzoli. This would be an encounter which would mark his life and that of his family!

Baptistery at San Carlos Parish, Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, where Francis was baptised.

Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio, at Fr Cayetano Bruno’s request, wrote a letter relating the ‘‘Salesian history” of his family, which he asked to be kept in the Salesian Archives in Buenos Aires. This letter follows, and it helps give us more detail on the family’s Salesian roots and the beginning of the strong devotion to Mary Help of Christians in Pope Francis’ spiritual life.To better understand the text it is good to have a general overview of the period; the global context4 in the 1920s was marked by the consequences of

4 WARE, PANNIKAR, ROMEIN, Historia de la Humanidad, Planeta Sudamericana, Barcelona, España 1981. Tomo X, 608 pages, pp 44-45

11

the First World War, the consolidation of the Communist government in the Soviet Union, strong economic depression in Germany, the consolidation of the United States as a power, and in 1929 by the Great Depression that would throw many workers onto the streets.Between 1919 and 1922 Italy went through a stage of social and political problems, inflation and economic conflicts which then got worse in the belief that while Italy had won the war it had lost the peace. Armed groups with strong nationalist tendencies, the Fascists, faced up to Socialist and Communist groups in Rome, Bologna, Trieste, Genoa, Parma and other points around the country. All of which encouraged people to migrate. One of the traditional destinations was Argentina.On October 24, 1922, the leader of the Fascist movement, Benito Mussolini5 , who had the support of conservatives and older military men, asked that his party be entrusted with forming the government , also threatening to take power by force if his offer was rejected. The Fascists organised what was known as the “March on Rome” which began with the resignation of Prime Minister Luigi Facta. On October 28 that year, King Victor Emanuel III asked Mussolini to form the new government. Although Mussolini was invested with extensive government privileges with a view to restoring order in the country, initially he governed within constitutional limits. In 1923 he headed a coalition government involving Liberals, Nationalists and Catholics along with followers of Fascism. Violence during the 1924 elections and the murder of the Socialist parliamentarian, Giacomo Matteotti that year brought about suppression of the constitutional order. Little by little Mussolini created a Socialist State where the Parliament lacked any ‘teeth’. He also declared that he was responsible only to the King for his actions and obliged Parliament to recognise his authority for approving decrees which had the force of law. He introduced media censorship in 1926 and suppressed opposition parties. In 1928 new measures were added to the above in the process of transforming the nation into a Fascist State. Those who opposed him were pursued, tortured and often forced to drink castor oil, as Pope Francis suggests in his first letter.

556 Quintino Bocayuva, 5 HOBSBAWM Eric, Historia del siglo XX, Crítica, Buenos Aires, 2005, 610 pages. pp. 122 ff.

12

Sívori family home, Pope Francis’ grandparents

The dictator achieved one of his most important diplomatic triumphs in 1929 when he signed the Lateran Treaty between the Italian State and the Holy See, ending 60 years of controversy over the Pope’s temporal power. This led to the establishment of Vatican City in Rome as an independent State. A very important figure during this period was Pius XI, Ambrose Damian Achilles Ratti, during whose pontificate (1922-1939) the solution to the ‘‘Roman question” found an answer and who, in 1883, visited the Valdocco Oratory as a young priest,6 and became an admirer of Don Bosco. It was he who on June 2, 1929 beatified, then on April 1, 1934 canonised St John Bosco.Meanwhile in Argentina7 the crisis of 19308 affected the foundations of its export-oriented economy. Major nations stepped up protection of their economies and decreased their purchase of raw materials and foodstuffs (Great Britain established preferential agreements with its colonies to buy raw materials and foods within the Commonwealth). This decision had a big impact on the performance of Argentina’s agrarian capitalism, affecting the normal functioning of the national economy, bringing unemployment and impoverishment to the masses.In this context the collapse of the democratic government headed by Hipólito Yrigoyen took place and a series of experiences of de facto military-backed governments began that would be the case for much of the twentieth century. This was the context affecting José Mario Francisco Bergoglio as he came to his new country of adoption, and it was in these economic and social events that he would find in Fr Enrique Pozzoli a true spiritual counsellor as we find in the letter that follows.

IHSCórdoba, 20 October 1990Rev. Fr Cayetano Bruno, S.D.B.Buenos AiresDear Fr Bruno: Pax Christi!! It is 29 years today since the death of Fr Enrique Pozzoli (if my memory does not fail me). I have just finished celebrating Mass for him. He baptised me on December 25, 1936 at San Carlos.

6  CERIA Eugenio, MBe Tomo XVI, CCS, Madrid 1988. p. 137 HALPERIN DONGHI, Tulio. Historia Contemporánea de América Latina, Alianza Editorial, Buenos Aires,

Argentina 2011, 772 pages. pp. 371 ff 8 WARE, PANNIKAR, ROMEIN op. cit. Vol X. pp. 50-51

13

Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Baptism Certificate

When I go to visit Mary Help of Christians, I usually pas through the Baptistery to give thanks for the gift of Baptism. Recalling Fr Pozzoli this morning I felt in the Lord that I must get down to the task and fulfil my long-procrastinated promise to you to write up my ‘Salesian memories’ for the Archives. So here I am, sitting in front of the typewriter, without any earlier draft but writing things down as they come to mind. I hope the result will be useful for you. Firstly I would like to write something about Fr Pozzoli … and if I really get wound up (recalling Fr Pozzoli this image is so apt) I will write a further page on my recollections of the Ramos Mejía College.1. The best summary of what I feel about Fr Pozzoli I have already written and spoken of publicly in a Conference I gave at the University of Salvador (when I was Provincial) on the Jubilee of the Salesians’ arrival in Argentina9 . I recall that you were by my side that day. Some of this I summed up when I dedicated my book ‘‘Meditations for Religious” 10 (in the introduction) to Fr Pozzoli. Breviter: images of the missionary, confessor, watchmaker and photographer come together with great affection. All together…2. Fr Pozzoli was very much connected with the Sívori family, my mother’s family, who lived at 556 Quintino Bocayuva. My mother’s brothers, especially the oldest, Vicente, were very fond of him (he also had photography as a hobby). My mother’s brothers were also active in Catholic Worker circles (in Calle Belgrano I believe). My father arrived from Italy on January 25, 1929. He was Piedmontese (born in Asti) and had lived in Turin much of the time (on via Garibaldi and Corso Valdocco). The proximity of the Salesian church meant he often went to the Fathers there, so when he took up counting the money there, he was already a member of the ‘‘Salesian Family”. They arrived on the Giulio Cesare, but they should have been on an earlier voyage on the Principessa Mafalda, except that it foundered. You cannot imagine how often I have thanked Divine Providence! My father worked at the Bank of 9 BERGOGLIO JORGE MARIO, University of Salvador, In Homage to the Centenary of the Salesians in

Argentina. BELZA Juan Esteban, copy by ISAG, Buenos Aires 1977 .10 BERGOGLIO JORGE MARIO. Meditaciones para religiosos. Editorial Diego de Torres, Buenos Aires 1982,

311 pages. pp. 7 - 8.14

Italy in Turin and Asti. My grandmother, Mrs Rosa Margarita Vasallo de Bergoglio (the woman who had the greatest influence on my life) worked with Catholic Action which was just beginning: she gave talks everywhere (I had one until recently, published as a pamphlet, one that she gave at San Severo (?) 11, in Asti, on: ‘‘St Joseph in the life of the single, widowed and married woman”). It seems that my grandmother said things that were not well received by the politics of the time … Once they closed the hall where she was supposed to speak, so finding herself out on the street, she got up on a table. She knew Blessed Giorgio Frasatti, and worked alongside Prof. Prospera Gianasso (who had considerable influence on Italian Catholic action). But I don’t believe that the political situation was the trigger for his migration to Argentina (not even having to drink castor oil). One of my grandfather’s brothers was already established in Paraná and his business was going well. They went to work with this paving company, a family business involving 4 of the 5 Bergoglio menfolk. My father was the only child and worked as an accountant in the business, moving between Paraná, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. When he arrived in Buenos Aires he stayed with the Salesians in Calle Solís, and it was there that he got to know Fr Pozzoli who immediately (1929) became his confessor. He joined the group of young men who surrounded Fr Pozzoli, and that’s how he came to know my mother’s brothers … and through them, my mother, whom he married on December 12, 1935 at San Carlos. My father had many stories to tell about Fr Pozzoli and the other priests: I recall him telling some about Fr Carlos Scandroglio when he went with him to attend to the dying. My father’s name was Mario José Francisco and my grandfather, Juan Ángel.

Photo of the Bergoglio family

3. The Economic recession had arrived. The president of the Firm in Paraná, my grandfather’s brother (his name was Juan, as was my grandfather’s, but his second name was Lorenzo) fell ill with leukaemia and lymphoma. Dr. Ivanisevich (the then Minister for Education) looked after him12, and then he 11 The question mark is in the original letter12 Oscar Ivanissevich (1895 - 1976). Ambassador to the U.S. from 1946 - 1948, Minister of Education from 1948 –

15

died. Both these things—the recession and Juan Lorenzo’s death—meant the collapse of the business. They had to sell everything, even including the vault at the cemetery (but in Paraná there is still the four-storey ‘‘Palacio Bergoglio”, where the four brothers lived), and my grandparents and father remained in the street. I mention this because it was Fr Pozzoli who presented them to someone, organised a loan of 2,000 pesos with which my grandparents bought a grocery store in Flores … and dad—who had been an accountant with the Bank of Italy and for the business—did his part. This shows Fr Pozzoli’s concern for “his boys” when they were going through tough times.

Interior of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Almagro

1950 during Juan Domingo Perón’s first term of government and from 1974 -1975 in Perón’s third term in office.16

4. I recall one case when Fr Pozzoli, at the end of 1948, helped us so that my brother and I could go as boarders—in 1949—to the Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Angeles College in Ramos Mejía. I was in sixth class then, in 1949, and my brother in fifth and sixth during 1949-1950. It happened that in 1948 my mother gave final birth (my sister, the fifth and last) and was bedridden well after the event. She had to send the three older ones away to board (my sister, the third, who is now the mother of a Jesuit and a Sister, went to Mary Help of Christians to board. Fr Pozzoli also helped in this case). The family went to him any time there was a problem, or when they had something they wanted to consult him about. He baptised all of us, except the second child, my brother, because (in January-February 1938) Fr Pozzoli was in Usuahia. Sometimes during the year (usually for St Henrys’ feast day) he came for a meal at 556 Quintino Bocayuva, my maternal grandparents’ home (Francisco Sívori and Maria Gogna de Sívori), and we would all gather there to honour him with ravioli: he was the spiritual father of our family.5. He had to deal with a number of problems in the Sívori family and he always did so tactfully. Yesterday I was reading in your book ‘‘Creo en la Vida Eterna” (I believe in Eternal Life) part 2, about the death of the Carreras brothers, and Fr Pozzoli immediately came to mind when I read how Fray José Benito Lamas acted. Fr Pozzoli knew how to present things, helped you to think and feel well about things, and little by little got things back on track. I recall two very delicate situations within the Sívori famly, and how he resolved them. But since two of the Sívoris are still alive (Luis and Catalina, the latter married to a brother of Bishop Picchi, Guillermo) I think it would be more prudent not to go into the details. But there was a third occasion that I can talk about. On this occasion Fr Pozzoli failed, and it happened like this: when my maternal grandfather, Francisco, died (Fr had been with him at that moment ), a fight broke out amongst the brothers; all about the probate issue (question of money), but the roots of it lay in old misunderstandings that surfaced in this instance. One Sunday Fr Pozzoli was having a meal at the home in Quintino Bocayuva, and he saw that not all the brothers were there. He learned about the mess … wanted to do something, but it was impossible. Then, and this is what I want to emphasise, he never accepted any further invitation to dine there. He attended to everyone, was concerned about them all, but (making excuses) arranged things so that he would never have to share a meal: neither with one lot or the other. This gives us a more rounded picture of him.

17

Basilica of St Joseph of Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina

6. His role was decisive, in 1955, in the question of my vocation. September 21, 1954 was a turning point. I knew Fr Carlos B. Duarte Ibarra, in Flores (my Parish). I went to confession to him by a stroke of luck … and there—without me being at my tax desk like the Saint of the day—the Lord was awaiting me, ‘‘miserando ateque eligendo”. I had no doubt at that point that I should be a priest. I had felt this calling the first time at Ramos Mejía, in sixth grade, and had spoken with the famous “fisher” of vocations, Fr Martínez, sdb. But then I began secondary school and ‘‘Bye-bye!!” I was studying industrial chemistry and used spend large periods of time (especially in summer) at my maternal grandparents’ home on Quintino Bocayuva. Interestingly enough I did not usually go to Fr Pozzoli for confession but usually went to some of the “giants” of the confessional: Fr Montaldo (a double giant), Fr Punto, Fr Carlos Scandroglio (even though I was a little afraid of him). But in September ’54 “Troy was burning” and I began serious spiritual direction with Fr Duarte Ibarra,who would die at the Military Hospital, assisted by Fr Aristi, A Blessed Sacrament Father, the following year. I didn’t say anything at home until 1955: this year I was finishing my industrial studies (six years) and was accepted as a chemistry technican. At home they didn’t see things this way. They were practising Catholics … but preferred I wait some years and go to University. As I was looking at who could help me resolve this conflict, I went to see Fr Pozzoli and told him everything. He looked carefully at my vocation. He told me to pray and leave it in God’s hands. He gave me the blessing of Mary Help of Christians. Every time I pray the ‘‘Sub tuum praesidium…” I

18

remember him. Of course, the idea came up at home: Why don’t we talk to Fr Pozzoli leave? And putting on my best face, I said yes. But I recall the scene. It was December 12, 1955. Mum and Dad had completed twenty years of married life. The celebration consisted of a Mass (just my parents and the five children) at St Joseph’s Parish in Flores. The celebrant was Fr Pozzoli. When Mass was over, dad invited us to breakfast at the “La Perla de Flores” pastry shop (Rivera Indarte and Rivadavia, half a block from the Basilica) … Dad thought that Fr Pozzoli would not accept because he asked if he could (or … if we should go home, which was six blocks away), but Fr Pozzoli (who knew what we were going to talk about) accepted without further ado. What freedom of spirit he had when it came to helping someone with his vocation! And during breakfast the topic came up. Fr Pozzoli said that yes, university was good, but things have to be taken up when God wants them taken up … and he began talking about different vocations (without taking sides), and finally spoke about his own. He said how a priest had suggested he become a priest, and how in a very few years he became a subdeacon, then deacon and priest … given how he did not expect it… Well, by this stage my parents had already softened their heart. Of course Fr Pozzoli did not finish up by telling them to let me go to the Seminary nor did he demand a decision … Simply let them see that they should soften, and they did … and the rest followed on. It was typical of him: ‘‘una de cal y otra de arena” [blow hot and cold, or take the good with the bad—it has various meanings!] as the Spaniards say. You did not know quite where he was heading … but he did, and generally he did not want to reach a point where you recognised that ‘‘he had won“! When he could ‘‘sniff out” that he had achieved what he wanted, he’d pull back before the others realised what had happened. So the decision came of its own accord, freely. They did not feel forced … but he had prepared their heart. He did the planting, and well … he left the taste of the harvest to others.

Entrance to the Major Seminary  at Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires, Argentina

7. I entered the Seminary in 1956. In August 1957 I contracted pneumonia. I was lucky. They operated on my lungs. Fr Pozzoli visited me in the infirmary.

19

During my second year in the Seminary the idea of a religious vocation had grown in me. So when I got better, I did not go back to the Seminary in November and hoped to enter the Jesuits. I spoke about this with Fr Pozzoli. He looked at my vocation and then gave me the green light. My visits to Fr Pozzoli and to the niche where the statue of Mary Help of Christians was were frequent. But Fr Pozzoli was worried about the time I would have to stay at home, until March, when I would enter the novitiate. He didn’t like the idea of so much time out … and even less since it was holidays. I don’t know how he went about it but he spoke to the Provincial and succeeded in getting me invited to spend my holidays with the clerics in Tandil. Fr Grosso was the Rector there. I got to know fine clerics at Tandil … One of them was Fr Wenceslaus Maldonado … Then in March I entered the novitiate.

Villa Don Bosco, Tandil, Province of Buenos Aires

8. There are two occasions in my relationship with Fr Pozzoli that make me sad when I think of them. One was my father’s death on September 24, 1961. Fr Pozzoli came to the funeral parlour and wanted to take a photo of dad with the five children … I was ashamed, and with all the superior pride of a young man I saw that it did not happen. I think Fr Pozzoli saw my stance but he said nothing. To think that in less than a month he would be dead … The second time was as a result of his death. A few days earlier I had visited him in the Italian hospital. He was asleep. I did not want to wake him (I felt bad deep down, and did not know what I would say to him). I left the room and stopped to talk with a priest who was there. After a moment another priest came out of the room and told me that Fr Pozzoli was awake, that they told him about my visit, and he asked if I was still there to come in. I told them to tell him I had gone. I don’t know what came over me, if I was timid or… I was 25 years old and already in 1st year philosophy … but I can assure you, Fr Bruno, that if I could have this moment back again, I would do so. How often I have felt deep sorrow and pain for this “lie” of mine to Fr Pozzoli

20

at the time of his death. There are moments in life (perhaps a few), when one would like to be able to relive them and act in a different way.

Fr Enrique Pozzoli sdb

9. He was a king of common sense. They told me a story about his final days. The priest in charge of mass intentions went around asking how many they had celebrated this month (it seems he was somewhat scrupulous), and they say that Fr Pozzoli looked at him and with his hand on his head and all five fingers together finally made a gesture as if to say: ‘‘please …” He knew how to stay with reality. When something was a bit bizarre he’d scratch his head with all five fingers and say “crazy…!” On the other hand it seems this was the only gesture of impatience he had. But his common sense was there in all the advice he gave. At least, that was my experience.10. What kind of mark did Fr Pozzoli leave? I go back to my family’s experience first. If my family lives in a truly Christian way today it is because of him. He knew how to establish the basics of Catholic life and help them grow. There are vocations: my cousin Julio Picchi; my nephew José Luis (Jesuit) and my niece María Inés (Handmaid of the Sacred Heart): both my sister’s children: me … and amongst my younger nephews and nieces there are questions about vocation. There is a pious life amongst us five children, and this piety was nurtured by Fr Pozzoli through the advice and guidance he gave my parents. Whenever we get together the conversation always includes comment on Fr Pozzoli: it is a reference we have within, and my nephews (none of whom knew him) know who Fr Pozzoli. He knew how to strengthen faith and piety amongst the group of young people whom he helped in their Christian life. At the basis of it was his devotion to Mary Help of Christians. Also St Joseph. You can ask José Bonnano, any of the Pedrettis, Mango, Juan Carlos Ghio … they will all tell you things about Fr Pozzoli. I believe it would be good to ask them while they are still alive. Last year I celebrated mass for the 40th wedding anniversary of Juan Carlos Ghio (he lives in Calle Cabildo), and—before Mass—in a brief conversation, reference came up to Fr Pozzoli as someone we owed so much to in life. In the end he

21

left a spiritual legacy behind. He was a worker for the kingdom of God. Another one who knows a lot about Fr Pozzoli is Bishop Picchi: I think it was he who sent him to the aspirantate. He has a lot of stories, and also his mother, Mrs Leonor Marsili de Picchi, in my opinion a ‘‘strong woman” in God, in the best biblical sense of that term. How often I saw her spend many hours at the niche where [the statue of] Mary Help of Christians is (and not because she had the time). It would be good for this woman’s name to be noted as one of the ‘‘illustrious parishioners” of San Carlos. Get bishop Picchi to talk about her. The difficult times he had at the end of his term at Venado Tuerto should not turn us off going to him to gain from the information he has. Forgive me for insisting on this.11. Good, Fr Bruno, I am about to finish. I feel that today I have simply done my duty. At my age you begin to accept that life ‘‘asks for the account", meaning that it starts pointing out the people who helped you to live, grow, be a Christian, priest, religious … and in recognising the good things so many people have done for me, I am increasingly enjoying being thankful to them. This is the case with Fr Pozzoli. Every day (sic!!) I name him in the Divine Office when I pray for the dead … and believe me, I enjoy this feeling of gratitude that the Lord gives me.Thanks for your patience.In Córdoba, October 20, 1990. Yours affectionately in Our Lord and His Holy Mother.Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.

22

2 EXPERIENCE AT SCHOOLDon Bosco’s encounter with the young in Turin was always educative, an educative and pastoral proposal getting at the heart of their concrete needs and providing training and experience in faith. Don Bosco always offered his boys the wealth of Catholic culture13 in a holistic way, in order to make them ‘‘good Christians and upright citizens.”

Photo taken in 1861

In Pope Francis’ life too, there has been an encounter with Don Bosco the educator. When his youngest sister was born following a difficult pregnancy and birth, his mother was unable to continue raising Jorge Mario and his brothers, and this is an instance where Fr Enrique Pozzoli’s mediation was involved for the two boys, who went to the Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles College, while his sister found a place in the College run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The experience the young Bergoglio had in the Salesian House at Ramos Mejía and that he reflected on over the years, he offers us in a second letter addressed to Fr Cayetano Bruno. It is a real compendium of Salesian pedagogy.So profound is the description of values and attitudes the College passed on to him that what Fr Fernando Peraza Leal has said of the Salesian school resonates with us still today: “For us to be truly consistent with our responsibility as “pastors”, like Don Bosco, our colleges have to present an explicitly Christian educational project, and lead to a commitment to transforming society, to pastoral renewal of the Church, as the historical processes of our time require14. Leisure time, sport, theatre and creativity formed part of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s school experience when he was in sixth grade in 1949, as he himself tells us.In Salesian education the tradition of the “Good morning”, (or Good day or Good night) has always been a constant factor coming from Don Bosco’s intuition and practice. It has continued as an important moment in the school 13 BRAIDO Pietro, Il Progetto Operativo di Don Bosco e l’utopia della società cristiana, LAS Roma, 1982. pp. 4-

5. 14 Fernando Peraza Leal, Don Bosco y la Escuela. CSRFP, Quito, Ecuador 1996. p. 108.

23

day, an opportunity to pass on values and offer a believer’s look at the situation. In this regard the letter is significant for its mention of this pedagogical resource throwing light on real-life situations like death, deciding on one’s vocation, or devotion to Mary Help of Christians.The context of the letter is the immediate post war period15 . The Second World War marked the 1940s and the century in general like no other event. As in 1914, the war spread to different continents, though this conflict was much bloodier and changed the world in a more radical way. In 1945, at the end of the War, Germany had suffered enormous material and human loss, as had Japan. The USSR had the highest number of civilian casualties. The Americas were not the scene of significant fighting (other than Pearl Harbour) and Latin American States were outside the confrontation, although officially they supported the Allied cause.

Photo from the Wilfrid Barón College Year Book, 1949

The U.S. and the USSR became the new and only world powers. The other older powers took second place. The League of Nations was replaced by the UNO, which had its main base in New York, not Europe16.In the ecclesial sphere, Eugene Pacelli, Pius XII, was elected Pope at the conclave held on March 2, 1939. The same year he warned world powers of the danger of conflict in various notes and addresses and promulgated his first encyclical Summi Pontificatus (October 20, 1939), of a programmatic nature, where he also insisted on the need for peaceful co-existence amongst peoples. He tried to keep Italy out of the Second World War with a visit to Victor Emmanuel III at the Quirinal (December 28, 1939), and a handwritten letter to Mussolini.The situation in Argentina at the time was marked by Peronism and with it 15 HOBSBAWM Eric, Historia del siglo XX, Crítica, Buenos Aires, 2005, 610 pages. pp. 234 ff.16 PALMER R. & COLTON J. Historia Contemporánia. AKAR Editor, Madrid 1980. p. 611 ff..

24

the consolidation of a strong middle class. It was a time of trade union organisation, social achievements by workers and pension benefits for the retired sector. There was strong politicisation and unionisation. In 1947 women got the vote and this had a powerful influence on the Peronist triumph in 195117. Some parts of the Church, from the outset accompanied the popular movement, because many of the government’s measures belonged to the social doctrine of the Church and responded to the dignity of the person.Very important at the time was the figure of Santiago Luis Copello18 (San Isidro, January 7, 1880 - † February 9, 1967) who was Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1959. He was the first Cardinal in the Catholic Church who was born in and exercised his priesthood in Latin America.Pope Pius XI made him a Cardinal, assigning him the titular Church of St Jerome of the Croats at the Consistory on December 16, 1935. On January 29, 1936 he became Cardinal Primate of Argentina, and was one of the electors at the Conclave in 1939 which elected Pius XII. Copello supported the Government of President Perón until the conflict between the Government and the Church, which began in 1954, made his position unsustainable. After taking part in the first meeting of the Latin American Bishops Conference (CELAM) in Río de Janeiro in 1955, Copello was rewarded and brought to Rome; the relations that Copello had with the Peronist Government meant that after the overthrow of Perón by a coup on September 16, 1955 he had to withdraw from Argentina and spend his final years in the Roman Curia.In 1958 he was a Cardinal elector at the Conclave which elected Pope John XXIII. From 1962 to 1965, he took part in Vatican Council II. He was also a Cardinal elector at the Conclave in 1963 which elected Pope Paul VI. Copello died in Rome at 87 years of age. His remains today lie in the crypt in the Basilica of the Blessed Sacrament in Buenos Aires.The years that Cardinal Copello was Archbishop of Buenos Aires was when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was doing his primary, secondary and seminary studies. This global, national, ecclesial and political context would accompany the young Bergoglio’s process of formation.The letter which follows tells us especially about his school year in 1949 when Jorge Mario completed his final year of primary.

17 ROMERO, Luis Alberto. Breve Historia contemporánea de la Argentina. Fondo de Cultura Economica, Buenos Aires 2002. p. 169.

18  Cf. BIANCHI Susana, Su Eminencia Reverendisima Santiago Luis Copello, Arzobispo de Buenos Aires, 7 de febrero de 2011, en http://historiayreligion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Bianchi.Copello.pdf

25

Jorge Mario Bergoglioas a seminarian.This photo was published byEl Salvador College in 1966

IHSCórdoba, 20 October 1990Rev. Fr Cayetano Bruno, S.D.B.Buenos AiresDear Fr Bruno: Pax Christi!!I have just completed my report on my memories of Fr Enrique Pozzoli. Now I would like to fulfil my promise to write down some memories of my contact with the Salesians, as we agreed on. I begin with a somewhat Voltaire-like anecdote. In 1976 we moved the Provincial Centre to San Miguel. There were new vocations coming in and it seemed appropriate for the Provincial to be near the House of Formation. We set about restructuring the curriculum: 2 years of juniorate (which had disappeared), philosophy separate from theology was reimposed, replacing the ‘‘mixture” of philosophy and theology called a ‘‘curriculum”, where they began studying Hegel (sic!).Since I was in San Miguel I saw that the slums were lacking pastoral care; this worried me and we began looking after the children: Saturday afternoons we taught catechism, then had games, etc. I saw that as teachers we had a duty to teach doctrine to the children and the ignorant, and I myself began teaching alongside the students. Things were growing: 5 big churches were

26

built, we began organising the children in the area … later on Saturdays and Sunday mornings only … Then I was accused of not carrying out a proper Jesuit apostolate; that I had Salesianised (sic!) our formation. I was accused of being a pro-Salesian Jesuit, and perhaps this makes my recollections a bit partial … but I’m happy enough this time because the one I’m writing to is a pro-Jesuit Salesian and will be able to work things out.1. It was not uncommon for us to speak fondly of the Salesians since my family had been spiritually nurtured by the Salesians at San Carlos. As a young lad I learned to go to the procession of Mary Help of Christians and also St Anthony’s in Calle México.When I was at my grandparent’s place I used go to the Oratory of St Francis de Sales (the one in charge there was Fr Alberto Della Torre, currently Airforce Chaplain). Of course I’m a fan of San Lorenzo’s (otherwise something would be missing) and up until recently I had a copy of the “History of San Lorenzo Club” written by Fr Mazza (I think): I gave it as a gift to Mr Hugo Chantada, Catholic journalist at La Prensa, a rabid San Lorenzo fan. So he has it now. As a boy I knew all the famous confessors at San Carlos: Frs Montaldo, Punto, Carlos Scandroglio, Pozzoli. And as a boy I had a copy of Fr Moret’s “Instrucción Religiosa” (Religious Instruction). We were taught to ask for the blessing of Mary Help of Christians every time we said goodbye to a Salesian.

St Anthony’s chapel and college, 4050 Calle México, Almagro, Buenos Aires

2. But my strongest experience with the Salesians was in 1949 when I became a boarder in sixth grade at Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles College in Ramos Mejía. The Rector was Fr Emilio Cantarutti; in charge of studies was Fr Isidro Fueyo. Bro. Fernández was a Brother working in the office. Amongst the clerics I recall Bro. (Leonardo or Leandro) Cangiani and Raúl Veiga. Amongst the older priests were Frs Usher, Lambruschini, Cingolani, etc. I can hardly give a partial account of life at the College, simply because I have often reflected on this year in my life, and this has gradually added to an overall reflection which I would like to offer here. I am aware that it is probably somewhat intellectualised, without the freshness of the simple re-telling, but on the other hand I also know that this idea of things is

27

something I have developed myself, it comes from my experience: so in my view it is objective.

The Almagro Forzosos (the ’Enforcers’) with Fr Lorenzo Mazza, sdb

When, a year or two later, I found out how Fr Isidoro Holowatyhad died, how he had suffered from stomach pains for many days until one Wednesday, when Fr Pozzoli who had gone to hear the confessions of the Salesians there, ordered him to see a doctor, I felt that this seemed a natural thing, that a Salesian had died like that, practising virtue.5. Another ‘‘Good Night” that made an impression was one that Fr Cantarutti gave on the need to ask the Blessed Virgin to help us truly know our vocation. I recall that night I was praying a lot as I went to the dormitory (it must have been noticeable because a couple of days later Fr Avilés made a comment to me about it in passing) … that night I could not sleep; I was praying. It was the right moment psychologically to give meaning to the day, to things.

28

Monthly grades

3. College life had ‘‘everything”. One was immersed in a web of life, organised so that there was not a moment of time wasted. The day went like an arrow and there was no time to get bored. I felt immersed in a world which, while it was put together ‘‘artificially” (with all the educational bits and pieces) had nothing artificial about it. It was the most natural thing to attend Mass in the morning as it was to have breakfast, study, go to class, play at recreation time, listen to the ‘‘Good Nights” the Rector would usually give. All the various aspects of life came together as one, and it was creating a conscience in me: not just a moral conscience but a kind of human conscience (social, play, artistic, etc.). I can put it another way: by awakening awareness of the truth of things, the College created a Catholic culture that was not in the least vague or other-worldly. Study, values of living together, reference to the most in need (I recall learning there to give up things so they could be given to people poorer than myself), sport, skills, piety … this was all real and it all formed habits which together shaped a cultural way of being. We were living in a world that was open to transcendence. So it became much easier then in my secondary schooling to ‘‘transfer” this (in the educational sense) to other things. This was simply because what we experienced at the College had got us to live well: without distortion, realistically, with a sense of responsibility and transcendence as a horizon. Thus Catholic culture is, in my view, the best thing I received at Ramos Mejía.4. Everything there was done with a meaning. There was nothing “without meaning” (at least in fundamental terms; because obviously a teacher could lose patience or there would be some minor everyday injustice etc). But there I learned, almost unconsciously, to seek the meaning of things. One of the key moments for this learning to look for the meaning of things was the ’Good nights’ which Fr Rector would usually give. At times also the Provincial would give one if he was visiting the College. I recall one, like it was just yesterday, that Bishop Miguel Raspanti gave; he was provincial at the time. It would have been early October 1949. He had gone to Córdoba because his mother had died on September 29. On his return he spoke to us about death. And now, almost 54 years later, I realise this ‘‘Good Night” was a point of reference for the rest of my life regarding the problem of death. That night,

29

without being afraid, I felt that one day I would die and it seemed to me to be the most natural thing.When, a year or two later, I found out how Fr Isidoro Holowatyhad died, how he had suffered from stomach pains for many days until one Wednesday, when Fr Pozzoli who had gone to hear the confessions of the Salesians there, ordered him to see a doctor, I felt that this seemed a natural thing, that a Salesian had died like that, practising virtue.5. Another ‘‘Good Night” that made an impression was one that Fr Cantarutti gave on the need to ask the Blessed Virgin to help us truly know our vocation. I recall that night I was praying a lot as I went to the dormitory (it must have been noticeable because a couple of days later Fr Avilés made a comment to me about it in passing) … that night I could not sleep; I was praying. It was the right moment psychologically to give meaning to the day, to things.6. I learned to study at the College. Study time, in silence, created the habit of concentration, fairly good control over time-wasting. Also with the help of the teachers I learned study methods, mnemonics, etc. Sport was a fundamental part of life. We played well - and there was plenty of it. The values sport teaches (as well as the anxiety of life it creates) is something we already know. The dimension of competence played a certain importance both in study and sport: taught us to compete well and in a Christian way. Over the years I have heard certain criticisms of this competitive aspect of life … but curiously these are criticisms by Christians who have been “liberated” of this pedagogical aspect but who in everyday life are people who gouge one another’s eyes out competing for money or power … and they don’t do it in a Christian way.

30

Annual prize-giving, Wilfrid Baron College, Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires Province 1949

7. One dimension that grew in me after my year at College was my ability to feel good; they educated me in feeling. Salesians have a special ability in this. I am not referring to ‘‘sentimentality” but ‘‘feeling” as a value of the heart. Not being afraid to feel and tell myself what I am feeling.8. Education to piety was another key dimension. A manly piety, adapted to my age. As part of this piety, special mention must go to devotion to the Virgin Mary. It was burned into my memory … and, as far as I recall, in that of my companions too. Turning to Our Lady is a key to our life. It comes from the awareness of having a Mother in heaven who looks after me even just praying the three Hail Mary’s or the Rosary.Mary remained and never left our hearts. They also nurtured, and it stuck, respect and love for the Pope. At times I have heard criticisms of the “piety” they nurtured in us at College (I heard this years later), but they were always the well-known complaints of someone who doesn’t want to go to Mass because at College they forced you, etc. This is an anachronistic criticism because it shifts the problem of teenage rebellion into the area of piety.9. Very much part of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin was love for purity. In this regard (and I think this is true for all of Don Bosco’s Preventive System) there is a big misunderstanding. They taught me to love purity without any kind of obsessive teaching. There was no sexual obsession at the College, at least the year I was there. I found much more sexual obsession much later on amongst other educators or psychologists who were ostensibly showing a ‘‘laissez-passer” about it (but were fundamentally interpreting behaviour in a Freudian way, sniffing out sex everywhere).10. There were places for hobbies, crafts, to explore our curiosity. For example Fr Lambruschini taught us to sing; with Fr Avilés I learned how to make and use a hectograph [gelatin duplicator]; There was a Ukrainian priest (Fr Esteban)and those who wanted to learned to serve Mass in the Ukrainian Rite … and there were so many resources (theatre, championships, academic events, taxidermy, etc.) whicPhoto of a visit by Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the Salesian minor seminary at Bernal. Province of Buenos Aires. Jorge Mario is in the grey uniform behind Frh were channels for our hobbies and our curiosity. We were educated in creativity.

31

Mary Help of Christians Parish,attached to Wilfrid Barón College

11. How did our teachers handle crisis? They made us feel that we could trust, that they loved us; they knew how to listen, gave us good advice, timely advice … and they protected us from both rebellion and sadness.12. All these things come together to make up a Catholic culture. They prepared me well for secondary school and also for life. The truth (at least as far as I recall) was never negotiable. The most typical case was sin. A sense of sin is part of Catholic culture … and there in College what I brought back home in this regard was strengthened, took shape. Afterwards one might become a rebel, an atheist … but deep-down the sense of sin was ingrained: it was a truth that could not be thrown overboard to somehow make things easier. I am speaking of Catholic culture because everything we did and also learned came together harmoniously. Things were not compartmentalised but one thing referred to another and they complemented one another. Unconsciously one felt one was growing in harmony, which of course we couldn’t explain then, but afterwards, yes. But on the other hand things were also bluntly realistic.

32

Photo of a visit by Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the Salesian minor seminary at Bernal. Province of Buenos Aires. Jorge Mario is in the grey uniform behind Fr Emilio Cantarutti

13. I don’t want to fall into the nostalgic and proustian past pupil kind of psychology, where the memory selects just the rosy part of life and denies the more limited and deficient bits. The College had its flaws but the educational structure was not flawed. Thus over the years the solid aspect of this education remained, and the positive side of it. That’s what I just described in the preceding paragraphs. There were things about 1949 that would not work in 1990 … but I am convinced that the Salesian cultural heritage of 1949, that pedagogical heritage, is capable of creating a Catholic culture in its pupils in 1990 too, as it was able to do in 1930. I say this because towards the end of last year something happened that made me feel sad. A Salesian priest whom I much appreciated, told me in a conversation they were thinking of putting some colleges into the hands of lay people. I asked him if it was for lack of vocations. He told me that it was partly because young Salesians didn’t want to work in colleges, were not attracted to this apostolate. I told him it was quite the opposite with young Jesuits: they wanted to work in colleges … and they are by no means conservative. Moreover, over the last 18 years the Jesuit Argentine Province had opened several colleges, using the idea of the Parish school. While I was the Rector at Máximo, we opened two colleges in that vicinity, one in technical education and the other for adult education. And now we have just opened a third: primary and secondary. I also told Father that more than it being a problem of the young, it seemed to me to be a problem of how the young men were being formed … and to look and see if the problem lay there. Father also told me that another reason was to “was to make an inclusive gesture” (sic!) in the slum areas, and that’s why they were handing over the colleges—or some. That it was a pastoral ‘‘option”. Faced with this I could only think of the Salesians I knew at College: I don’t know if ‘‘they made inclusive gestures”, but that they wore themselves out all day, had no time for a siesta, that I do know. If these men I knew in College—and I will finish with this reflection—could create a ‘‘Catholic culture” it was because they had faith. They believed in Jesus Christ, and—partly by faith and partly by sheer nerve—they ‘‘preached”: by their word, by their life, by their work. They saw no shame in catechising in the language of Jesus’ Cross, which is shame and foolishness for others. I wonder: when a work languishes and loses its flavour and ability to leaven the mass, would it not be rather because Jesus Christ is replaced by other options: psychological, sociological, pastoral? I don’t want to be simplistic in this, but I cannot stop worrying about the fact that—to make these radical gestures of social inclusion—we might abandon our adherence to the living Jesus [in favour of] the consequent insertion in whatever environmental context, including the educational, to build a Catholic culture.Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ.

33

View of Wilfrid Barón College and Mary Help of Christians Parish, Ramos Mejía

34

3 A GRAND TESTIMONY OF GRATITUDE AND FRIENDSHIP

First Salesian missionary expedition, November 11, 1875. Don Bosco hands over the Salesian Constitutions to Fr Cagliero the head of the expedition

October 8, 1976, at Salvador University in Buenos Aires, during the celebrations for the Salesian missions, Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina; a conference19 in memory of Salesian missionary exploits20.Since 1950, the Western world, using Keynesian theory and providing room for industrial development, has gone through a period of notable economic growth. It was also a tough time of “cold war”, a time of great conflict between the Soviet and capitalist world. In 1968-1969 a wave of rebellion swept the world, essentially led by the new social force of students whose numbers by now were in the hundreds of thousands, even in medium-sized western nations21. The oil crisis in the 1970s affected the economy at global level.For the Church the 1950s would witness change beginning with the election of John XXIII who called the Second Vatican Council II. The 1960s and 70s saw Paul VI at work, his magisterium and accompaniment of the Postconciliar Church marking the entire era.From 1950 to 197622 Argentina experienced various conflicts and suffered escalating violence both in the political sector and the State. Certainly the State terrorism practised beginning with the military coup was one of the worst scourges to afflict the nation.

19 BELZA Juan Esteban, Memoria documental de los Actos del Centenario Salesiano 1875-1975. Instituto Salesiano de Artes Gráficas. Buenos Aires 1977, 63 pages, pp. 42 to 47.

20 Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio was provincial of the Jesuits from 1973 - 1979.21 HOBSBAWN Eric op. cit. p. 442.22  CTR, HALPERIN DONGHI, Tulio op. cit. Historio Cantomporanea de America Latina.

35

In 1952 Juan Domingo Perón took up his second presidential mandate and the same year Eva Duarte de Perón died. She had been a true champion of popular causes. The social, economic and political situation was tense and polarising.The relationship between the Church and the Peronists suffered severe damage and it was in this context that systematic attacks on Catholic churches occurred on June 16, 1955. On September 16 that year Perón was overthrown by a military-based civic movement. A new stage of alternating military and democratic governments began, none of them running full term. The country went through attempts at economic development, but there was no true social peace due to the systematic rejection of Peronism.Beginning from 1969, the year of Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s ordination as a priest, there was a social explosion in Córdoba which saw an even worse wave of social protests and finally the de facto Government of General Alejandro Lanusse found a way for General Perón to return to the country.

Mater Misericordia Church,or the ’Italian Church’, given to the Salesians when they arrived in 1875

36

Perón finally returned to the country during the Government of Hector José Cámpora, on June 20, 1973, on a day marked by armed conflict between right and left factions of the very Peronist movement that had made the leader’s return possible. Cámpora called new elections, this time without banning any party, and the winning combination of Juan D. Perón-María Estela Martínez de Perón took office on October 12, 1973. From the outset it was clear that distinct Peronist tendencies within the government were in conflict. On July 1, 1974 Perón died and Isabel Martínez succeeded him as President. On May 11 that year Carlos Francisco Sergio Mugica Echagiie was shot and killed after celebrating Mass at the Church of San Francisco Solano. He was a priest and Argentine professor linked to the Movement of Priests for the Third World and the popular struggles of the Argentina of the 1960s and 1970s. His death was attributed to the extreme right wing ‘Alianza Anticomunista Argentina’, commonly called ‘triple A’, although there was no final legal judgement. On March 24, 1976, the armed forces deposed the President and established a clearly repressive policy implemented by the State, although there was already a presidential decree eliminating subversive forces. The Church throughout the 60s and 70s was marked by the attempt to apply Vatican Council II. In Latin America the plenary assemblies of bishops in Medellin, Colombia in 1968 and 1979 in Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico, produced guidelines for true renewal and reconciliation. In Argentina the San Miguel document was the result of the Episcopal Assembly held from April 21-26, 1979 and marked an era in the Church’s efforts to accompany the people according to the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council.In this context the Salesians, who had arrived in Argentina in December 1875, celebrated the first centenary of their missionary venture. Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio gave a conference as a Salesian past pupil and Provincial of the Jesuits, in which he displayed detailed historical knowledge, expressing his feelings as a past pupil who appreciated many Salesians, amongst whom he highlighted Frs Enrique Pozzoli and Cayetano Bruno.The conference that follows here has to be understood as an integral part of festivities for the Salesian missionary jubilee in Buenos Aires.

A TRIBUTE MARKING THE CENTENARY OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE SALESIANS IN ARGENTINA

CONFERENCE GIVEN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SALVADORLadies and gentlemen: The significance of the work initiated by the Sons and Daughters of St John Bosco among us a century ago is heading for a happy future for them and for the country, provided they remain faithful, as they have been until now, to the inspiration of the Founders. Everything we do, they in their field and each of us in our own, to strengthen the supernatural order, will additionally enable us to obtain the temporal order we all crave for.1. When the 19th century was leading the imperial project of devastation of the peoples to a climax in Europe in a decisive way, a man of God

37

succeeded, in that simple synthesis the saints are capable of, in describing the universal love of Jesus Christ. He planned a legion of priests determined to propagate the Gospel by confronting authorities with a candid approach that would turn Cavour and the bitterest Liberals in Italy at the time in his favour.From the outset it is good to recall that Don Bosco’s cheerfulness and courage had their basis in faith; and this same faith taught him a wisdom that knew naught of cautious timidity nor was it Machiavellian, but was an instinctive feeling for people, their secret plans, their manoeuvres, which made him triumph as a man of action.

Mama Margaret and Don Bosco at Valdocco

Behind this great man, who had lost his father at two years of age, lay a strong woman who not only offered him a life of poverty but passed on the joy of poverty and disdain for wealth. ‘‘If you ever have the misfortune to become rich," she told him ‘‘I will not set foot in your house.” She was a woman who gave advice full of realism, so on the day of his ordination she did not hesitate to tell him: ‘‘As you go to celebrate your first Mass, you begin to suffer…”He could have been a learned priest or canon lawyer: he was fluent in Latin, and could manage Greek and Hebrew; he spoke colloquial French, read in German, and by the time he was forty had written a number of books: a

38

history of the Church, a history of Italy, a handbook of religious education for youth …But his most fruitful books were poor boys whom he looked after in Turin. The knowledge he was keen to investigate was delinquency in twelve year old boys. As a Founder, Ceylon and Patagonia were his obsessions. His letters to Cagliero testify to this: ‘‘It is very important that in 1877 you make a trip back to Europe so you can make another to Ceylon, in India; and begin another very important mission, where they really need someone from Castelnuovo.”23. But his true passion was Patagonia. Father Costamagna wrote: “How often I saw Don Bosco with his eyes fixed on a map of the world, sighing and weeping out of concern for this.”His generous soul found no peace when he considered that the Emperor of China perhaps had more subjects than Jesus Christ. ‘‘The pampas“, he would say, ‘‘Patagonia!” ‘‘Ah, how many souls there must be who in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent!”. And no one thinks of helping them? Well, I will think about it …" Then he began to write to Pius IX, to the President of the Argentine Republic, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, then Fr Bodrato, then to me. And seeing me somewhat negligent in matters of such importance, he wrote to me, reproaching me in these words: ‘‘Neither you nor Fr Bodrato understand me. We must go to Patagonia. The Pope wants it, God wants it. So get moving then; present yourself to the Argentine Government, speak, insist that they open up ways for this mission."

23 Here it would be good to recall that John Cagliero was born in CASTELNUOVO D´ASTI on January 11, 1838.39

Monument to Bishop James Costamagna in the Salesian Church at Bernal, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

2. The first Salesians arrived in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1875. A little later they would take up their apostolic task of educating the young—especially the poorest—paying attention to migrants, missions amongst the natives. Because God is the one who guides history, these holy men filled with God, who at first sight could be taken for Italians and foreigners to these tasks, took on the great directions that have shaped our evangelisation: the assimilation that once upon a time involved natives [Indios] and Spaniards in setting up a mission, and that now had other main players: natives, Argentines and immigrants; the Christian education of children as future bearers of history; tender devotion to the Virgin asking her to pray for us. They taught us to love her under the advocacy of Mary Help of Christians.3. The fist link in the fruitful educational work of the Salesians in Argentina would be the College of San Nicolás de los Arroyos. Here, as elsewhere, success for countless young people would be prepared through the Schools of Arts and Trades, from which they gained the skills to enter the world of work as qualified tradesmen. Without downplaying this success, this wasn’t the basis of the Salesians’ educational work, but the religious formation they would offer in the spirit of Don Bosco, who true to the slogan received in a dream when he was a child: ‘‘Lead them, but win them over not with insults but with kindness and love; teach them”, he would provide in the preventive system, the touchstone of every Salesian educator. When liberalism had already reached a dogmatic and institutional stage of development, and had tried to restrict the margins for Catholic education, a man of Don Bosco, our dear Father Vespignani, would not surrender to the enemy. Although this savours of military language, I would say he infiltrated his field, and sent his students to be skilled at normal schools, so they could say nothing about the professional competence of Catholic teachers. As innocent as doves and as wise a serpents—Jesus taught us how to fight for the Kingdom. The Lord, who had a sense of history, wanted this paradox to be a strategic weapon of his disciples. And since not everything could be covered by systematic teaching, they implanted the Festive Oratories in the heart of the suburbs, where catechetics were taught along with cheerful festivity, games, and families too were attracted.4. For the priest to be able to penetrate the Italian areas was no easy task. The activities of the Carbonari in Italy, although it could not root out the deep faith of the people, did tarnish appreciation for the priest. Despite this and early resistance, which included posting things on the walls against him, Father Cagliero established himself at the heart of the Italian community: the suburb of La Boca. Archbishop Aneiros had counselled against this penetration; he even feared his priests would be murdered. A few months later he was able to discover, when he went to La Boca, what had been the secret of Fr Cagliero’s success: he lived in a tiny room in extreme poverty;

40

and he said: ‘‘I did not believe these dear Salesians, sons of Don Bosco, could be found in this ’tomb’." The answer came back quickly: ‘‘Comforts, Archbishop, comforts, what do they do? They just make us soft. By Don Bosco’s mandate the Salesians refuse wealth, we don’t need it, we seek souls, plenty of them."What at the beginning seemed to be little more than a tiny effort took on an institutional structure: the Parish of St John the Evangelist and then the College in La Boca; the Italian Church of Mater Misericordiae, and many more works. No trick was spared: even the most famous choral items from Verdi, Donizetti and Bellini, played by the Salesian band in the Cathedral church, were an incentive for the Italians to come to mass and satisfy their lyrical desires at the same time. With this kind of work the Salesians not only served the Catholic faith but helped integrate into the national community this enormous contingent of Italians who had arrived in our country. But along these lines a much more difficult and significant task was reserved for them: the evangelisation of Patagonia. We know well that in the second half of the 19th century formal ideas regarding the structures of these people were a conviction. In the light of these theories our native peoples, thought to be biologically inferior, were not considered a valuable component for the national community to set about rescuing. Even the official leadership had this idea. During the Sarmiento presidency, a minister spoke thus in a message in 1873 regarding the indigenous problem: ‘‘It is useful to remember at this time what has been written over recent years about the inferior races, destined irrevocably to be absorbed by the superior races, the only ones capable of building up a lasting site of social establishment in a new territory.” This was good enough for Fr Costamagna, a Salesian, to get down to the task!Perhaps it helps to imagine Patagonia, the Patagonia Don Bosco dreamed of: a vast region extending from the Andes to the Atlantic, and from the south from what is Córdoba today to much further beyond the Rio Negro. Dunes, worn down mountains, and especially plains [pampas] with a mountain or two of chañar and jarilla [two types of tree or large bush indigenous to the area] and caldén [another tree species] with its broad branches and squat trunk, whose purple colour looks black to human eyes from a distance. And the history of Patagonia? The Spanish dream of Trapalanda24: the bloody path of the Jesuit missionaries: Father Mascardi, and Father Laguna …. and the efforts of Brigadier General Juan Manuel de Rosas. Towards 1835, when Rosas decided to tackle the problem of the desert, he saw that it was not possible to set up any successful negotiations, given the fractious nature and lack of unity of the native tribes populating Patagonia. This is why he had the Vorogas come from Chile.25 Towards 1825, they arrived in Argentina from 24  The city of Césares, also known as the enchanted city of Patagonia, the wandering city, Trapalanda, Trapananda,

Lin Lin or Elelín, is a mythical city in South America, assumed to be somewhere in the Southern Cone (probably in a mountain valley in Patagonia between Chile and Argentina). The city was intensely sought during the colonial period, since it was assumed it had been founded, according to various versions, by the Spanish (shipwrecked, or exiled), and/or by the mythical Incas, and that it was full of riches, mainly silver and gold. so rich in metals that it would be a joke in reality

25 Vorogas, of native Mapuche origins in the area between the Cautin and Toltén rivers.41

Chile. They established themselves in Salinas Grandes and began the Cura, Piedra dynasty in our land. Calfucurá, [which could translate as Piedra Azul in Spanish or Blue Stone in English], would unify the native ’empire’ and Juan Manuel de Rosas negotiated peace and trade with this chief. When the Salesians arrived there was little of this peace left amongst the natives of Patagonia. No treaties had been met, they were considered irrelevant … and the other thing would be General Roca’s strategy. As did Rosas earlier, the future Argentine President saw that the homeland was established in Patagonia, but it was not going well because it was fractured, and he had to lay the stone on which to build unity. The Salesians also saw that God was in the natives; but he was fractured too, like an image in the shade, sensed but not confessed. Through the work of the Salesians, God would lay the stone for building up his Church, and again it would be a descendant of the Cura dynasty, called to be a synthesis of all of God’s love for Patagonia and of all the capacity to respond to God that the natives had. No need to name him because we already feel the name in our hearts. The name of the young native Ceferino Namuncurá, [Pie de Piedra or Foot of Stone], God’s outpost, God’s step, is the stronghold of the Gospel.

Bishop John Cagliero with Ceferino Namuncurá and his father

The symbols come together so strongly that it stops us from getting lost in diversions and data. And I believe that the symbol of Ceferino Namuncurá is more expressive for speaking of the work of the Salesians in Patagonia than any long list of works and achievements. Ceferino is also a nice irony on God’s part for the enlightened who scorn our barbarous ways!5. When we were speaking initially of the grand lines of Salesian apostolate, we also noted the Marian character of their pastoral work. Catholic theology leads us to believe that God wished to save mankind in earthly garb and with maternal warmth … This is how Mariology sums up the great statements of Christian piety concerning Mary. For us it comes as a statement of fact that for the Americans—especially the Argentines—God saves us especially through Mary. Already at the dawn of our evangelisation the Franciscans and Jesuits sowed devotion to the Pure and Immaculate Conception. The Pure and Immaculate Conception of Itatí, the Pure and Immaculate Conception of Valle de Catamarca, the Pure and Immaculate Conception of Santa Fe, which we would later call Our Lady of Miracles … it is not difficult to trace in this devotion what the missionaries sought: our peoples in their baptismal grace could be reflected in Mary’s graces, preserved from all stain. The Mercedarians taught devotion to Our Lady of Mercy; it seems to be the oldest devotion of Catholics with a specific connotation. And this Virgin of Grace and

42

Mercy would be, when the moment came, a symbol of national unity, the General of our armies like a new Judith, in the Tucuman scenario. And so would be Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Cuyo. The Dominican Fathers, with their venerated image of Our Lady of the Rosary carrying the Child in her arms, and the teaching of the Holy Rosary, contributed in establishing the essential connection in the piety of these peoples between love for Christ and love for Mary. The Salesians inserted devotion to Mary Help of Christians into this devotional flow. It is the daily nature of Mary’s intercession on behalf of her children. Not in vain did they teach us to sing, ‘‘hasta tus pies benditos, para implorar sobre nuestra vida entera…” (I want to kneel at your blessed feet to implore your blessing on my whole life …).6. The Salesians are very much aware they are men of the Church. And those three lines of their apostolate that we have outlined demonstrate it conclusively. Men of the Church who teach love for the Mother of all. Men of the Church who understand her in time and for eternity. Men of the Church because they are servants of the faithful people, ready to mend ruptures, look after the neglected and encourage hopeful joy. Because they loved the Mother of all they made her mother of inhospitable Patagonia, and they were able to give an awareness of being brothers to people who seemed like strangers: Italian foreigners, the natives in our pampas and the Argentines already settled in the land. And because they loved the Mother of all, in each Salesian College, in each Festive Oratory, they sought to reach the heart of our people, the family, through all the youngsters. This strong awareness of the Salesians that they are men of the Church became a strongly institutionalised effort. Salesian fruitfulness in Argentina could not be explained without it happening through men for whom the body is more than the individual. Paradoxically, this vocation to anonymity brings out – in the great face of the Salesian Family - some faces that still confirm us in the faith whenever we think of them. Already, on their arrival, the parish priest of San Nicolás de los Arroyos wrote in a letter in 1876 and spoke of the Salesians as a compact body, but he could not avoid noting that “Fagnano is indefatigable; Tomatis, intrepid; Casini, constant, Gioia, invincible; Allavena, robust; Molinari, tireless; Scabini,unshakeable in his scientific, manual and religious work and Cagliero, all this and much more …” We are confirmed in our faith when we think of a Galo Moret and a Lorenzo Mazza; an Esteban Pagliere, who escaped from Salvador to become a Salesian; a Joseph Vespignani and a James Costamagna. Men who were workers and constantly so: Louis Rezzónico and Charles Conci. Men who were lost amidst the hustle and bustle of a College playground, and in the secret of the confessional: González del Pino, Emilio Cantarutti, Guillermo Brett, Carlo Scandroglio … A Father Punto, a Father Vaula … men who knew how to form lay people of the stature of a Roberto Meisegeier. Amidst all these recollections I would like to sum up my gratitude for the work of the Salesians, and this as one of their past pupils, as an Argentine and as Provincial of the Jesuits, giving testimony of my admiration for two of these men. Two men who symbolise in a special way the legacy Don Bosco generously left to all his sons. I would like to tear out all the flesh of existence, with divine firmness, to perceive the religious side of these men. Two men who received a wonderful gift, a supernatural

43

gift: of penetrating the heart of each man and the heart of the people. I refer to Fr Enrique Pozzoli and Fr Cayetano Bruno. A first impression of fragmentary images brings us to Fr Pozzoli: the clockmaker for the Río Grande tower in Terra del Fuego, the photographer up a tree to catch the culminating moment of a procession, the tireless confessor … The images seem fragmentary but a vigorous stroke will configure them and unify them. Because Pozzoli the watchmaker and photographer also had a very fine ear for the tick-tock of consciences, and a very accurate instinct for imprinting the love of God on hearts. He knew how to encompass the intricate landscape of a soul with God’s time. He knew how to reveal the Lord’s plan for each life.Fr Cayetano Bruno—or as Fr Furlong describes him, Don Bosco come to life again—had the happy knack of discovering the religious heart of a people. His tenacity as a researcher and his dedication as a religious made it possible for pages lying asleep in the archives to become an expression of the unvarying religiosity of our peoples. Like in Ezekiel’s vision, the breath of the historian and apostle made of this ‘‘membra disiecta" the religious history of a people. I would really like to thank him.

Father Cayetano Bruno at an audience with Paul VI. Fr Bruno is the third on the right, smiling, without glasses

Looking at these men, who condensed a long and fruitful apostolic heritage, we can do no less than recall Don Bosco’s prayerful exclamation: “Da mihi animas caetera tolle”. and feel that never was a desire so perfectly fulfilled.Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.

44

45

4 ARTEMIDES ZATTI AMONGST FRANCIS’ SALESIAN DEVOTIONS

Bro. Artemides Zatti

The following letter was written by Fr Bergoglio in 1986, at a time when Argentina had returned to democracy, and it refers to an experience of intercession by Bro. Zatti, a Salesian Brother, for vocations to the Jesuit Brothers.At a world level the 1980-1990 decade was marked by the process of the collapse of the Soviet bloc, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990.There was an intensive expansion of neo-liberalism characterised by the rejection of state intervention in the economy, privatisation of public enterprise, the opening of markets and the reduction or elimination of social investment. The U.S. plan to militarise space continued with its ‘‘Star wars” project.In the Soviet Union a process of democratisation began under Mikail Gorbachov, with his policies of social and political reconstruction (Perestroilka) and openness (Glasnost), freedom of expression.The U.S. invasion of Granada in 1983 and Panama in1989 showed the hegemony of capitalism. There was a Soviet-U.S. agreement on nuclear arms reduction in Europe in 1987.The process of restoration of representative democracy in Latin America, after about a decade of de facto military rule, allowed the region new horizons of expression, organisation, and search for development; although privatisation and neo-liberal policies in many cases were gradually moving the state to withdraw from areas where their presence was needed to protect the common good.

46

As a culmination of a process of integration, European countries signed the Maastricht Treaty, thus forming the European Union.The ‘‘oil war" broke out between the U.S. and Iraq and in that context it exacerbated the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the crisis of the European socialist countries, leading to the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 and thus the end of the Cold War.In Argentina the decade began under the continuity of a military government whose prestige was in decline due to the failure of its economic policy. In a context of growing social protest, the de facto Government decided to invade the Malvinas Islands [aka Falklands] which had been usurped in the 19th century by the British Government. The seizure of the Islands by Argentina took place on April 2, 1982. Great Britain responded by declaring war and sending a fleet to the South Atlantic. In the midst of this conflict John Paul II visited Argentina on June 11 and 12 that year. Events were clearly unfavourable to the Argentine forces. June 14 saw the surrender of the Argentine forces. This military adventure finally brought an end to military rule and the process of opening up to democracy began. Raul Alfonsin won the election and came into power on December 10, 1983. A difficult but hopeful stage began after more than 6 years of a military government practising state terrorism. It began a process of democratisation of society and review of recent history that led to a trial of the military juntas. The Trial of the Juntas took place between April 14 and December 9, 1985. It condemned some members of the first three military juntas of civil-military dictatorship that engulfed the country in terror during the 1976-1983 period. Since 1986, progress on prosecution and sentencing of perpetrators of crimes against humanity suffered a setback with the passage of the ‘Full Stop’ Law (1986) and the Due Obedience Law (1987).

John Paul II expressed his devotion to Our Lady of Luján during his visit in 1982

During the government of Alfonsín, John Paul II carried out a visit to Argentina in 1987, from April 6-12 visiting the entire country: Buenos Aires, Bahía Blanca, Viedma, Mendoza, Córdoba, Tucumán, Salta, Corrientes, Paraná and Rosario, in a marathon visit which drew the support and

47

sympathy of thousands of people. The social and political situation deteriorated with the passage of time. Union protests and uncontrollable inflation hastened by six months the handover of power to a triumphant Peronist Party whose candidate, Carlos Saul Menem, assumed the presidency on July 8, 1989.The Argentine episcopacy was accompanying the process of democratisation and among its 95 statements and documents, noteworthy ones are: ‘‘That all may be one, so that the world may believe" 1986, ‘‘Church in Argentina, arise" from 1987, ‘‘To entrepreneurs and business leaders “, 1987, ‘‘A Plea for respectful dialogue and participation”, 1988.These were the years when Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio completed his time as Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina. From 1980 to 1986 he was Rector of the Colegio Máximo, and also parish priest of San Miguel in Buenos Aires. After a brief stint in Germany and Buenos Aires, he settled in Córdoba for six years. It was in 1986, replying to a request from Fr Cayetano Bruno, that he wrote a letter on his devotion to Salesian Brother Artemides Zatti, who was a declared a Servant of God in 1980. From other letters we know of his devotion to Mary Help of Christians, Ceferino Namuncurá, and Don Bosco. In this one we discover his sensitivity to the religious life lived heroically by this humble Salesian Brother who gained the title “brother to all the poor” from the people.

Painting showing Zatti’s charitable activity amongst the people in Viedma

IHSBuenos Aires, 18 May 1986Rev. Fr Cayetano Bruno, SDBBuenos AiresDear Fr Bruno: Pax Christi!!

48

In your letter of 24 February, you asked me if I could try to write something about my experience with Bro. Zatti (with whom I have become good friends), with regard to vocations to the Brothers. Apologies for being late in replying, but to be honest it has been hard to find a quiet moment during this time to recall all of that and put it in writing. However it is never too late …We had a great shortage of Brothers. I shall take 1976 as my reference point, which was when I got to know about Bro. Zatti’s life. That year our youngest Brother was 35 years old, an infirmarian, and he died four years later of a brain tumour. The next one after him was 46, and after that 50. And after that they were much older (many of them still working as elegant gentlemen of 80 years of age or more). This ‘‘demographic picture” of the Brothers in the Argentina Province had many thinking of the likelihood that this was an irreversible situation and that there would be no more vocations. Some even questioned the ‘‘relevance” of the Brother vocation amongst the Jesuits, because facts seemed to suggest that it was extinct. There were efforts in various places to provide a ‘‘new image” of the Brother, to see if—by doing this—there would be more young people who would follow this ideal.On the other hand, Fr General, Fr Pedro Arrupe, S.J., strongly insisted on the need for the Brother for the Jesuits to be complete. He even said that the Jesuits were not the Jesuits without them. The efforts Fr Arrupe made in this area were huge. The crisis was not just in some Provinces but across the whole Jesuit world (in reference to the Brother vocation).In 1976, I think it was more or less in September, during a canonical visitation I made to the Jesuit missionaries in northern Argentina, I stayed in the archbishop’s house in Salta for some days. And there, between chats here and there and around the table Bishop Pérez told me about Bro Zatti’s life. He even gave me his life to read. It drew my attention to such a complete figure of the Brother. From then on I felt we should ask the Lord, through the intercession of this great Brother, to send us Brother vocations. I made novenas and asked the novices to do so too.I must be clear about two things: the first is that the dates are not exact. When speaking of September 1976 I am indicating a period more or less that might be extended to about six months. To determine the exact date we would have to go to the Provincial Curia Archives. But for the purposes of this account a general time indication suffices. the second thing is that in Salta on various occasions I felt the urge to recommend to the Lord and to Our Lady of Miracles an increase of vocations for the Province (in general, not just Brothers as I did with Bro. Zatti). I even made a promise that the novices would go on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Miracles if the number of novices reached 35 (which happened in September 1979).Let me return to the prayer for Brother vocations. In July 1977 the first young Brother entered (he is 32 years of age now). On October 29 the same year, the second entered (currently 33 years of age). Afterwards they followed on thus:

49

the third entered in 1978 and is currently 33the fourth entered in 1978 and is currently 26the fifth entered in 1979 and is currently 42the sixth entered in 1980 and is currently 24the seventh entered in 1981 and is currently 39the eighth entered in 1981 and is currently 27the ninth entered in 1981 and is currently 23the tenth entered in 1981 and is currently 27[no. 11 is missing in the original]the twelfth entered in 1982 and is currently 25the 13th entered in 1983 and is currently 25the 14th entered in 1983 and is currently 25the 15th entered in 1983 and is currently 22the 16th entered in 1985 and is currently 25the 17th and 18th entered this year and are in the Novitiate. This means that since we began praying to Bro. Zatti 18 young Brothers who have persevered have entered plus a further five who left during the Novitiate or Juniorate. In total: 23 vocations.The novices, students and young Brothers made the Novena in honour of Bro. Zatti on numerous occasions praying for Brother vocations. I also did so. I am convinced of his intercession in this matter since these numbers are a rare case in the Society. As we see in the 2nd and 3rd edition of the Prayer Book of the Sacred Heart we have included the Novena to ask for the Canonisation of Bro. Zatti.An interesting fact is the quality of those who entered and have persevered. They are young men who want to be Brothers like St Ignatius would want them to be, without ‘‘gilding the pill”. The Brother vocation is very important for us. Fr Arrupe said that without them the Society of Jesus would not be the Society of Jesus. They have a special charism nurtured by prayer and work. And they do good for the Society as a whole. And they demand thoroughness on our part. Fr Swinnen, who was Master at the time the Brother vocations began to arrive (then he became Provincial and then returned to being Master of Novices ) knew how to instil this true Ignatian charism of the Brother from the beginning. And the one who succeeded him as Master while he was Provincial was the same (Fr López Rosas). Young people are disappointed when they see they are treated with half measures or palliatives in their vocation. They want to play their part (although sometimes they make a fuss but in the depths of their heart they seek things

50

that are authentic and not just imitations).This has been, in general, the history of my relationship with Bro. Zatti in the case of vocations of Brothers in the Society. I repeat that I am convinced of his intercession, because I know everything we asked and put to him as advocate for this.Nothing more today. I am affectionately yours in Our Lord and His Holy Mother,Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.(Further) Re-reading my letter I see that I have to complete the point speaking of the quality of these young Brothers. They are pious, cheerful, hard-working and healthy. They are very manly and aware of the vocation to which they have been called. They feel a special responsibility to pray for young Jesuit students preparing for the priesthood. They have no “inferiority complex” because they are not priests nor do they think about become deacons….etc.; they know what their calling is and they love it that way. This is healthy. And it does good.

Bro. Artemides Zatti’s certificate of qualification as a nurse

51

52

5 HIS LOVE FOR HIS COUNTRY, ARGENTINA, AND LATIN AMERICA

Archbishop Bergoglio

The following letter, dated 1992, was written when sending Fr Cayetano Bruno the homily he gave as Archbishop Bergoglio for the Fifth Centenary of the discovery of America in the Cathedral in Buenos Aires.The 1990s was marked by the end of the Cold War, the end of century utopia, and the possibility of a single hegemonic discourse.On October 3, 1990 Germany was reunified under Chancellor Helmut Kohl. For many this symbolically ended the Cold War which commenced there in 1949. Thus began a decade with enormous changes in international politics. The fall of the Berlin Wall was followed by the disintegration of the USSR, giving birth to new independent states and allowing political reform in nations that had remained under its influence, as well as many of the authoritarian anticommunist governments promoted by the U.S. to contain the Soviet bloc. Prominent amongst these nations was the Russian Federation, led by Boris Yeltsin throughout this period. The anticommunist revolution extended to Romania and culminated in the execution of the dictator, Causescu and his wife Elena. Lech Walesa and Solidarity leaders, supported by the Catholic Church, came to power in Poland. The transition to democracy was peaceful in Hungary and in Czechoslovakia, which on January 17, 1992 split into the Czech and the Slovak Republics.Thanks to the latest computer technology, ‘‘globalisation" reached levels never before imagined. The Washington Consensus agreed on a package of economic policies for reformulating and adjusting national economic policies around the world.The World Trade Organisation was set up in 1994; along with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, it played a central role during the decade.Latin America was the region that applied the economic policies of the Washington Consensus in a more disciplined manner. Presidents Carlos Menem (Argentina), Fernando Collor de Mello (Brazil), Carlos Salinas de Gortari (Mexico), and Alberto Fujimori (Peru), were the leading exponents of these policies. Mercosur was created in 1991. Mexico entered NAFTA, with

53

the U. S. and Canada.The Augusto Pinochet dictatorship came to an end In Chile after 17 years of being in power and a broad coalition government between socialists and Christian democrats began—it went beyond that decade. In Paraguay the Stroessner dictatorshiIt is in this framework that Fr Jorge M. Bergoglio was called to the Episcopacy on May 20 1992, and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, the Archbishop being Cardinal Quarracino. It was as Episcopal Vicar for Flores that he had the task of delivering the homily for the Mass commemorating the Fifth Centenary. Showing the friendship that bound him to Fr Bruno, he sent him, with humility and affection, the text he had read three days before in the Cathedral. One needs to read between the lines to describe how he presents the situation in Argentina and Latin America in these words, enlightened by the newness of the Gospel.p came to an end, one of the longest in history, and a democratic phase began. In the south of Mexico, in 1994, the neo-Zaptatista uprising took place brought about by the Zapatista National Liberation Army. In Guatemala with the signing of peace in 1996 a civil war that lasted 36 years and left more than 200,000 dead and missing was finally at an end.In this decade Latin America became the region with the most social inequality on the planet and the only one not making progress in the fight against poverty, according to information provided by the World Bank in 2003. There was exponential growth in corruption and a gradual disenchantment of the population for political participation.The crisis in the economies of Southeast Asia in 1998 caused a chain reaction in the international economy. Europe continued on its way to unity, and individual countries ratified the implementation of the common currency (the Euro). In 1999, the war in Kosovo saw NATO’s first ever military intervention. The Organisation acted against ethnic cleansing committed by Milosevic’s forces against the Kosovar population.The emergence of the Internet marked a cultural revolution the significance of which cannot yet be fully assessed, but it has definitely changed the way people communicate forever.Along with the spectacular advances in information technology, the introduction and widespread use of mobile phones was the fundamental technological innovation of the nineties.At the level of the Church the Fourth Latin American Bishops Conference was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1992 for the 5th Centenary of the Discovery and Evangelisation of America. It further explored the theme of earlier Conferences at Medellín and Puebla, seeking to identify the reality of the continent, and look at human development and Christian culture. At Santo Domingo, the call to conversion was emphasised by interpreting the reality, both ecclesial and social. In comparison with Puebla and Medellín it maintained the effort to evangelise culture and to go out to the poor, but it also explored commitment to justice and human rights; it deepened its understanding of youth and family ministry; it highlighted the role of the

54

laity; issues such as the defence of life, urban culture, ecclesial movements and associations, the role of women, cultural expressions of Afro and Indo Americans, mission ad gentes all gained strength.Argentina suffered from the application of recessionary economic formulas in this decade which strongly affected domestic industry, bringing it almost to extinction. By manipulating exchange rates, a 1-1 parity (1 peso = 1 dollar), was maintained which ended up causing strong public and private debt, unemployment and impoverishment. Consumer culture and corruption were permeating the different strata of society, while on the other hand, the country went from being a place of transit of drugs to a country with high drug consumption. All this led to a deep political crisis that would manifest itself in all its harshness at the start of the next decade.The Argentine episcopacy produced 32 documents in this period of a social and pastoral nature. Prominent among them were the ‘‘Pastoral Guidelines for the New Evangelization" in 1990, ‘‘Five hundred years of the Gospel" in 1991. Current issues such as AIDS were also the object of the Bishop’s reflection.It is in this framework that Fr Jorge M. Bergoglio was called to the Episcopacy on May 20 1992, and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, the Archbishop being Cardinal Quarracino. It was as Episcopal Vicar for Flores that he had the task of delivering the homily for the Mass commemorating the Fifth Centenary. Showing the friendship that bound him to Fr Bruno, he sent him, with humility and affection, the text he had read three days before in the Cathedral. One needs to read between the lines to describe how he presents the situation in Argentina and Latin America in these words, enlightened by the newness of the Gospel.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio on the Buenos Aires Subway, Line A

55

EPISCOPAL VICAR FOR “FLORES”ARCHBISHOPRIC OF BUENOS AIRESCONDARCO 581- Tel 612-60681406 – BUENOS AIRESBUENOS AIRES, 15 October 1992Rev. Fr Cayetano Bruno: Buenos AiresDear Fr Bruno:Pax Christi!!A few lines of greeting added to the text of the Homily I gave during the Te Deum for the Fifth Centenary in the Cathedral on October 12 last. I think it might interest you and I await your critique of it. I always recall you [prayerfully] before the Lord. Please do not cease to pray for me to Mary Help of Christians. Yours affectionately in Our Lord and His Holy Mother.Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.1. On October 12 Columbus planted a Cross along with his hopes. And since then the tree of the cross has been quietly growing, along with ambitions, the desire to excel, noble ideals and blind passions. Always suffering but always inviting a hopeful new life. The tree of the cross was growing, giving fruits of ‘‘prosperity”, shaping and consolidating the American people.2. So, the American people, the faithful people of God, in the depths of their heart, experienced the noblest courage and idealism of their conquerors, their own sense of honour and dignity. And, on the other hand, they also enjoyed the purest gifts of their indigenous people: attachment to the land and the need to live in harmony with it, the wise silence that puts up with everything, broken only by the overwhelming need to celebrate, enjoy, kneeling before their beliefs.3. But in this American heart hatred and violence were also seething. And as we think about it, we did not always have sufficient presence of mind to know that we could be exterminated and were a mixture of opposing races, that we could be slaves of commercial colonisation but were also citizens of a Kingdom.4. This American Heart knew injustice and outrage but, at the same time, felt a Father’s Providence, and still more that of a Mother, who did not let us disappear in the exclusionary project of economic interests, but allowed us to be a new people, a child of cultures bled dry but giving their best in this new birth.5. Like the wheat and the tares, the Cross planted in San Salvador came with the passions of men, the noblest and most contrary of passions: bound up with sin and grace, so that life would abound where the most contradictions were felt. This marks the permanent tension of American life: the overwhelming desire to be, to be able to realise ourselves, and the need for

56

the patient, loving Cross that does not allow us to destroy ourselves in sterile violence.6. So when the clash of cultures was inevitable, faced with the double temptation: either to exploit and plunder, or to be marginalised but resist in the forests and mountains and approach total annihilation, the Indian laws and the tireless work of the missionaries came along, and creole rulers and chiefs [the reference is to the Chilean Cura chief] who were dedicated to the solidarity of teaching and learning, working and protecting.7. The political ups and downs were disastrous, the ’encomenderos’ and decadent indigenous empires as well, but in the American soul the love for solidarity, the unfailing faith where there is always something to celebrate was being forged - like hard steel, slowly. And if we want to note the passions: the abusive conquistador on one side, and the flight to the mountains and sorcery on the other. However between both passions the ’Reducciones’ [mission-built colonies of indigenous peoples] and Missions mediated with work and the warmth of nascent popular piety, nurturing a civilisation of sharing, creativity, and joy in sacrifice.8. And when centuries later there was the option of opening one’s ethnicity to a foreign one or deciding on closed nationalism, the people—with their warmth and brotherly feeling—incorporated migration flows and made them their own, beyond all calculation … and later generations felt part of this land. And if we look well beyond the mistakes and failures, we see all the social efforts of historical realisation, equidistant between the great powers and ideological interests. We see that these came from the common feeling and thinking which united our peoples, leading them to organise themselves freely, to seek peace as the fruit of justice. And thus in America the advice the Bishops of Badajoz gave to Don Carlos I flourished : ‘‘Make happy people, united in justice, without some exploiting the others.”9. People who are achieving their destiny and even in the hardest moments are encouraged to dance, to enjoy the free gift of ‘‘being" and keep hoping. These people know that, through the cross of injustice and frustration comes a life of solidarity and mutual friendship … We are used to seeing that in God’s time, everything has a meaning, a value, a Word addressed to us.10. There is, in short, in this American heart, the intimate belief that only the union of hearts, in loyalty to the dearest beliefs of their way of living and loving, can overcome time and contradictions. It could be that this American heart seems lazy to us; we could be distressed that we are not on a par with other peoples who compete and fight for unbridled progress. However behind this apparent laziness is a wise nostalgia: our people have learned that solidarity and warmth of life, the need for the peace of the spirit, are greater riches than material ones. Hence the heroic merit of our suffering American heart: it never ceases being what it knows it is. Even beyond the injustices, betrayals, failures, it does not cease celebrating its dignity, that of a simple but unshakable faith, patient hope, that which our native creole sage told his children faced with dispersion: ‘‘Remember that the fire is always below."

57

11. The Cross had been planted and in its shadow the sense of religious caution that our faithful people have has grown. Our people has a soul, and because we can speak of a people’s soul we can speak of a hermenuetic, a way of seeing things, a conscience and awareness. In our American people I see a strong awareness of their dignity. It is an historical awareness whose personality has not been shaped by significant milestones. It is not the result of a theory but of a life that is Christian at its very roots.

Cardinal Bergoglio celebrating Mass at the Buenos Aires Cathedral

12. Perhaps to understand why there is this way of being we have to go back to our dearest family memories and track the courage, ability to discern and decision of the early saints who flourished in this land. We only approach the real feeling of our American people in the person of our saints: they are the “cultural and theological place” for our American heart. In the encounter with our saints and especially with our Mother, the Queen of saints, this people is able to explain its deep-rooted longings, its life, its ethic, its hard work. Yes, its hard work: because work for our people is their source of dignity. And if we want to get into its ‘‘class theory" we find a very simple but real division: those who work and the drones. Because our people, when it judges, does so from a moral awareness, and the principles of this awareness are solidarity, justice and work.13. This faithful people does not divorce its Christian faith from its historical projects nor does it mix them with revolutionary messianism. This people believes in the Resurrection and the Life: it baptises its people and buries its dead. Our people prays, asks for health, work, family understanding… and—for its country—peace. This same people that asks for peace knows especially that it is the result of justice.14. A long time back, the Holy Father, John Paul II, invited us Americans and especially Argentines, during his visit, to a New Evangelisation. We could add today that this evangelisation will be incomplete if we do not dare to renew Argentina from its foundations by being faithful to our American heart; unless we replant in our young hearts the constant will that solidarity and shared and just commitment can do more than can naked competition and efficiency

58

of numbers, which are not the measure of human suffering. A human Argentina, where being and sharing our being are more than having. The Cross planted 500 years ago demands that we struggle. It demands that petty interests do not win out, like newencomenderos, nor that injustice be hidden in efficiency. It demands that misery and marginalisation do not win over the heart of our peoples, nor social discrimination, drugs and substandard education, like new mountains and sorcerers who hold us back and make us fall behind. Let us rather encourage the spirit of a new cross-breeding, a new culture: let us organise ourselves in freedom, let society keep its institutions free so that nobody is left defenceless, so that private initiative can act, be creative with security and social sense, and that the State ensure the good of all, without smothering or meddling, and not give up anything that falls within the ambit of the Common Good. Let us not allow so much sacrifice over five centuries and a day to serve only the few, so that hatred and impotence do not turn against us all. If we are able to carry out a project in which nobody is excluded, in which goods and responsibilities are respected, no matter the time or the difficulties … so that this people may only know the happiness of God, feel united, know that is “is” and the hope that “does not disappoint.”Jorge Mario BergoglioOctober 12, 1992

Father Cayetano Bruno in audience with John Paul II

59

60

6 SALESIAN MEMORIES THROUGH THE YEARS

Cardinal Bergoglio with the traditional Argentine beverage, mate

These memories, offered by various Salesians who have had the enriching experience of knowing, or sharing some moments with Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio, range from 1949 to 2013. So for this chapter we take a look at the context from the 1990s until 2010.The 1990s at world level had two main characteristics: the three wars the U.S. were involved in and growing turbulence in the world financial system. The Gulf War in 1990-91 was followed by the war in Serbia in 1999 and then by the war in Afghanistan. Economically the end of the century and the beginning of the new millennium were marked by the most serious world recession in the last part of the century, and possibly in the whole post-war period.In Argentina, in the wake of growing challenges to the neo-liberal policies of the government of Carlos Menem, and in opposition to growing corruption and the inability to fight the scourge of unemployment an emerging political force known as the ‘‘Alliance" came into being.On December 10, the Alliance team assumed power in a climate of hope, even amongst many who had not voted for them. However, even beginning with his inauguration speech, President De la Rua began to undermine his political base, announcing the need for a series of tax increases and proposing major adjustments to state structures.On December 1, 2001, he announced a package of economic measures that imposed a total banking regime on the economy by prohibiting withdrawals of cash deposited in public and private banks. This measure, which largely affected the middle classes, gained support in the markets and from international financial organisations, but the people began to express considerable dissatisfaction. By mid-December there were outbursts amongst some of the ordinary working folk in some provincial cities, encouraged by protesters called ‘piqueteros’ [picketers]. Specifically, several shops in impoverished areas of the interior suffered looting by unemployed and destitute sectors of the population. Serious riots and social unrest broke out in different parts of the country, with its epicentre in Buenos Aires. During these serious confrontations between demonstrators and police, the

61

most violent were the ones that occurred near the seat of Government in Buenos Aires, where at least 5 people were killed.Faced with this situation, the president decided to announce on national television that he had declared martial law, suspending constitutional guarantees of citizens. Spontaneously, thousands of people took to the streets, disgusted with the recent civil and economic measures. Peacefully, people expressed dissatisfaction throughout the night, as police tried to keep them away from Government House. On December 20 there were further clashes between police and protesters gathered in the Plaza de Mayo in front of Government House, and in other parts of the country. This time the number of dead was estimated to be 30, in different clashes. Visibly weakened, the president delivered a televised speech calling for ‘‘national unity" and offering to co-govern the country with the Peronist movement. Faced with riots and popular rejection, the President abandoned Government House by helicopter and offered his resignation.Several politicians assumed the presidency of the nation successively, on an interim basis until December 31, when the Legislature appointed president Eduardo Duhalde, who took office on January 2, 2002. A few days after his rise to power, the new president ordered the first measures to tackle the economic crisis: abandonment of the fixed exchange rate, devaluation of the peso, ’pesification’ of the economy (including bank deposits) and the distribution of social plans to mitigate the effects of an economy in recession which had increased poverty and indigence to an extent never seen before in Argentina.On June 26, 2002, there was the Avellaneda massacre when the Government ordered the repression of a demonstration by picket groups. Given this, Duhalde anticipated the presidential elections by six months announcing that he would not stand.President Nestor Kirchner was elected. He ruled from May 25, 2003 until December 10, 2007.Kirchner confirmed Duhalde’s choice for Minister of Finance, Roberto Lavagna, and his economic policies followed the same lines as his predecessor’s, maintaining monetary devaluation through strong participation of the Central Bank in foreign exchange purchase, boosting exports by economic growth rates of GDP of around 10 per cent. But he did pull the country out of default, swapping debt for new bonds indexed for inflation and economic growth rate. Poverty rates and unemployment declined markedly.During Kirchner’s time in government, Argentina and the International Monetary Fund maintained a distant relationship. One of the main measures of his administration was to anticipate the entire debt with this international organisation to the amount of 9,810 million dollars, with the stated goal of ending his economic policy’s subjection to the directions of the IMF. In 2005, he carried out the debt swap, which began renegotiations for the bonds that had been in default since 2001.

62

Kirchner conducted an active policy to promote human rights, adding his government to other recognised members of human rights organisations. He also encouraged bringing those responsible for crimes against humanity to trial for crimes which occurred during the 70’s, carried out by Triple A and the National Reorganisation Government process. To do this he annulled the laws of Due Obedience and Full Stop, which restrained legal judgements from the Raúl Alfonsín government.Internationally, Kirchner was part of a group of leaders of several Latin American countries, along with Lula (Brazil), Vazquez (Uruguay), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), of anti-liberal trend. One of the highlights of international politics was the Fourth Summit of the Americas in 2005, held in Mar del Plata, where Kirchner’s government along with other Latin American governments, successfully promoted opposition to the signing of the Free Trade area of the Americas (FTAA), launched by the United States, establishing a new continental policy focused on creating decent employment. Matching this, Argentina supported the decision to form the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), whose constitution was finalised in 2008.On December 10, 2007, Cristina Fernandez became President. In the early days of her term she continued the general guidelines of her husband’s government. Thus, a woman was elected President of the Nation for the first time in the history of Argentina.On October 23, 2011, Cristina Fernandez was re-elected President with 54.11 percent of the vote, and regained a parliamentary majority she lost in the 2009 legislative elections. Her running mate was Amado Boudou, current vice president of the Nation.Under her government she regained majority shareholding of the previously privatised ‘‘Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales", the major enterprise in the country winning the highest support from Congress for a bill since 2003.On November 8, 2012, the government of Cristina Kirchner faced the biggest crisis since the 2001 anti-government mobilisation. Protesters demanded greater security, lower inflation and less corruption.On the ecclesial scene, in 2007 the 5th General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean took place in Aparecida (Brazil), from 13-31 May, presided over by the then Pope, Benedict XVI. On that occasion, Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina, chaired the Commission drawing up the Document of conclusions from the Bishops’ Conference, known as the Aparecida Document. The value this document holds for the current Pope Francis is shown by the fact that he has presented this document on several occasions especially to Latin American leaders he has met, such as the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela.These are the years during which Archbishop Bergoglio carried out his

63

ministry as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.A ministry marked by his great approach to the people, their pains and principles. This attitude led him to repeatedly denounce the alarming impoverishment of the population and high levels of corruption in front of various authorities at the annual celebrations of the Te Deumfor the national holiday.The testimonies that follow have emerged within the context just discussed.

TESTIMONY OF FR ROBERTO MUSANTE

Fr Roberto Musante, SDBin the forefront

My encounter with Pope Francis: shared with you.I have lived alongside Jorge Mario Bergoglio throughout my Salesian life.1. We met in September 1949; he was a pupil in sixth grade at ‘‘Wilfrid Baron de los Santos Ángeles” College in Ramos Mejía ( Province of B.A.) which belonged to the Salesians. On this occasion he came with his Rector, Fr Emilio Cantarutti, to the aspirantate at Bernal to visit the boys who had come from the college; there were approximately 28 of us aspirants.Fr Juan Morano, a real artist in painting, theatre, photography, took the photo around the monument to Dominic Savio; in it, Bergoglio, 13 years old and wearing a grey smock is behind the priest and me, 15 years old at the time. That day we hardly saw each other and certainly did not imagine that time would bring us together in such an unusual way. His experience of this year with the Salesians is shown magnificently in the letter he wrote Fr Cayetano Bruno in 1990.2. In January 1959 I was assistant to the aspirants in the holiday house at Tandil. There, the young Bergoglio , at the suggestion of Fr Pozzoli his confessor, came to spend a few weeks to regain his strength; he had recently had a lung operation. On this occasion we shared lunch and supper. I knew little about him but his silence and humility impressed me.3. Then when he was Archbishop of B.A., in conversation with the juvenile judge, Mirta Guarino, with whom I was particularly friendly, he indicated his

64

desire to get to know me; he had learned from her that I was one of the first 24 Salesian priests ordained by Bishop and martyr Enrique Angelelli; he appreciated him very much. So, I was Parish Priest of Puerto Deseado (province Santa Cruz in South Patagonia) when I learned of his wish, and I spoke to the Archbishop of BA; that’s how we came to meet up; it was October 2001. He greeted me warmly and we chatted about Angelelli. I asked him why the Bishops were so slow in declaring the truth about his martyrdom; he told me : ‘‘I am convinced he was murdered and I hope to invite a bishop emeritus (he mentioned Bishop Galán) to search through the diocesan archives for documents referring to him.” Then he told me of his experience with the Salesians when he was in Ramos Mejía and his days recuperating at Tandil. I confided in him about my desire to go to Angola as a missionary and he offered to support me when I approached the Provincial. We chatted for about 40 minutes; he gave me his blessing and accompanied me to the door saying good bye with an embrace and his usual: “Pray for me!”4. I was in the Jesús Buen Pastor community, in a poor neighbourhood in Isidro Casanova, on the outskirts of B.A., when they spoke to me on behalf of Bergolio to visit a family that had gone to ask help from the Archbishop’s House. Again I was surprised to hear that the Archbishop himself had sent his own doctor to attend to the head of the family who was sick.5. When I was given permission to go to Angola I went to say goodbye to him. Every time I came back from Angola and let him know, he surprised me by calling me personally at home to agree on a time to come and see him; on one of those occasions I was with Bishop Tirso Blanco who had recently been consecrated as Bishop of Lwena (Angola). When we asked if there was a priest who could spend some time in Angola he told us: “Whenever a priest shows the desire to be a missionary, I have supported him, assuring myself that it is not just a simple adventure.“ In fact right at the moment Fr Ignacio Copello, a diocesan priest, is a missionary in Lwena.

Fr Roberto Musante celebrating Massin a neighbourhood in Greater Buenos Aires

6. On one occasion I returned to Buenos Aires bringing Bergoglio a letter from a seminarian in the diocese of Luanda; I left it with the secretary and that same day he phoned me telling me that the letter was asking for money

65

to pay for his studies. I told him that I had not imagined that the letter was for this purpose. However he told me ‘‘If you believe it is appropriate I should send him some money, come and get it.” That’s how I was given an envelope with some dollars in it.7. When he was elected as Pope Francis some civil and ecclesiastical sectors raised suspicions about his attitude during the dictatorship; That’s when I spoke to La Nación the B. A. Daily newspaper. I had heard from the lips of witnesses who confirmed the support of Bergoglio for people persecuted by the dictatorship. On this occasion, as Superior of the Jesuits, he risked his life to get many people out of the country who ran the risk of being kidnapped, tortured and made to disappear. Testimony to this is in the recently published book ‘‘La lista de Bergoglio“ (Bergoglio’s List).26

These are simple facts that, like so many others, show us the helpful and humble heart of Pope Francis. I am happy to be able to share them with you.Roberto Musante, sdb.

TESTIMONY OF FR JORGE CASANOVAI had the opportunity to get to know Father Bergoglio because in 1975 I was Provincial of the Salesians in Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz and Terra del Fuego and he was the Jesuit Provincial, so there was always a rapport of dialogue between us, and because we were going through difficult times in the military process; and we had to help the priests to keep them free from guerilla and military activity.I recall that when we had the centenary of the Salesians coming to Argentina he invited me to a conference he gave at the University of Salvador. It was really emotional because he recalled his childhood, and spoke in praise of the Salesians, especially Fr Pozzoli.

26 Cf. SCANO Nello - La lista de Bergoglio, los salvados por Francisco durante la dictadura. Publicaciones Claretianas, Madrid, 2013, 192 pages.

66

Behind Archbishop Bergoglio are Frs José García and Jorge Casanova

I shared some activities with him since we were both part of the Argentine Religious Conference.Afterwards, when I was appointed Parish Priest of San Carlos, he came every month to pray to Mary Help of Christians, brought her flowers and on a pew that we had behind the niche where the statue is, the now Pope Francis spent half an hour praying to Our Lady. Every 24th of May, for the 10 years I was there, he came to say the mass of Mary Help of Christians and also every year on Christmas Day he came to the Basilica to pray in the baptistery, behind the baptismal font where he was baptised.I recall with joy that he came to the Parish for the great liturgical feasts.He is a man who always liked as very much and worked alongside the Salesians a lot; in all the Salesian works in this diocese we always had his support and accompaniment.I found he was someone who could advise me when i was running the parish and when I needed to or had some problem I would go to him and he would

give me the solution.

TESTIMONY OF FR JOSÉ MARIO REPOVZ‘‘Here he was baptised; here, you can say, his faith was born," the Parish Priest of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, Salesian Fr Jose Repovz said, opening the doors of the baptistery where Pope Francis as he is today received the Sacrament which marked the beginning of his life in the Spirit.It is the same church where, in the early twentieth century, Carlos Gardel sang as a child as part of the choir. It was there too that Ceferino Namuncurá made his first communion in 1898. He is known as the ‘‘Saintly ‘Indio’ of Patagonia” and his altar in in this church was blessed by the then Pope in 2007, when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.Father Repovz, who was Provincial of the Salesians between 1999 and 2005, says that since Bergoglio’s election in the conclave, the faithful have been coming to this intimate spot in the Basilica to make a significant gesture: touch the font where the Holy Father as baptised. ‘‘It is no random gesture; this was the Cardinal’s personal rite, in private, during his frequent visits to the church when he visited Mary Help of Christians in her alcove.”

67

Fr José Repovz, Parish Priest of San Carlos, in the Baptistery where Francis was born into Christian life

When he celebrated his 70th anniversary of Baptism, a small plaque was placed in the Baptistery with a copy of the parish register indicating his Baptism. There you can read that Jorge Mario, the son of Mario Bergoglio and Regina Sivori, godparents Francisco Sivori and Rosa Vassallo de Bergoglio, was baptised by Salesian Father Enrique Pozzoli, who later would became his spiritual director.Bergoglio was also a sixth grader at the Don Bosco school at Ramos Mejía, in Buenos Aires, run by the Salesians, the Congregation founded by St John Bosco. Don Bosco had personally blessed the statue of Mary Help of Christians—Patroness of the Salesians—venerated in the parish where the Pope was baptised.It is from here and from the example of his maternal grandmother who lived not far from the Basilica, that Bergoglio’s special devotion to Mary came from. Every May 24, one the Feast of Mary Help of Christians he honoured her by presiding at the celebrations at Almagro.But the Supreme Pontiff, as he is today, did not only come once a year. Every now and again, always privately, he would catch the Metro or bus to the church to ‘‘chat alone” with the Help of Christians. Fr Repovz tells us that Bergoglio would come at times when there weren’t many of the faithful, and would go up to the niche in this imposing church, where there was a pew practically hidden behind a column and there, at the feet of the statue of Our Lady blessed by St John Bosco, he would spend a long time in prayer.

TESTIMONY OF FR FABIÁN GARCÍAFr Fabián García, former provincial of Buenos Aires from 2005 to 2010, knew Card. Bergoglio. Bergoglio. He has given ANS27 some of his personal memories which reveal the face and heart of the new Pontiff; a heart which is deeply bound to Mary Help of Christians:

27 ANS Salesian News Agency - Published March 14, 2013 - Italia www.infoams.org,68

Moments after Pope Francis gave us his first words and his first blessing, my early memories flooded back … Francis, the same Cardinal who, when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires and I called the Curia to seek an appointment, had the call immediately transferred to him from the central desk and instead of saying when it might be possible to fit me in said: ‘‘When can you come?”This is the same one who, whenever he finished any kind of meeting, formal or informal, always said: ‘‘Pray for me.”The same one whom I met at the bus stop at the end of the Feast of the Patron of our parish, which he had presided at. I was going back to the Provincial House by car, and when I offered him a lift he said: ‘‘Thanks, but I always go by bus or the subway.” This is the same man who lived so austerely at the Curia, without a car, not bothering about protocol and living very simply.

Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio and Fr Fabián García at the Oratory and College of St Francis de Sales

This is the same man I met while I was accompanying one of our Superiors on a visit to the historical centre of Buenos Aires. He was walking along the street, dressed simply in a dark suit and a shirt and when we greeted him he said: “I’ve just come to take the place of a parish priest who is sick.”This is the man who, in a preface to one of his books (Meditations for Religious), with reflections from when he was Jesuit Provincial in Argentina, wrote: ‘‘And when taking up the question of religious meditation, the principal collaboration came from the example of so many of our confreres… I have had a very strong influence [in my life], and would like to mention here the example of ecclesial service and religious consecration of Fr Enrique Pozzoli, SDB …”This is the man who expressed his support for the “San Lorenzo de Almagro” football team, founded by Salesian Fr Lorenzo Massa. The same man who with his habitual simplicity could give you advice, help you in a situation of government or tell a joke and make you laugh. This is the man who always wanted to preside at the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, loves Don Bosco

69

and is very devoted to Blessed Artemides Zatti.This is the man who as Jesuit Provincial got them to pray the novena for the then Servant of God, Bro. Artemides Zatti, asking him to intercede for Brother vocations to the Jesuits, and there were many vocational fruits from this prayer.This is the man who celebrated the Beatification of Ceferino Namuncurá with so much joy, presiding at the Procession, the Mass and other celebrations. But of all of my memories there is one that is strongest, most significant, indelible: a man of faith who, every 24th of the month, early in the morning before the doors opened, came to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in the suburb of Almagro, celebrated Mass and stayed a good hour praying before the image of the Blessed Virgin which had been blessed by Don Bosco himself.”

TESTIMONY OF FR FRANCISCO DE RITO‘‘I recall him being in our parish, St John Bosco in the Palermo district, where he would catch public transport to come (subway, getting off at Ángel Carranza and walking 4 blocks along Calle Dorrego). I also recall his immediate response to my cellphone call any time I consulted him about something.

Fr Francisco de Rito and Archbishop Bergoglio on pastoral visit to Don Bosco Parish. Palermo - Buenos Aires

If he wanted us to take in a boy at our schools in Almagro he would do so by telephone and would show concern for the people in the kitchen or receptionists both at the Curia and the Clergy House.On occasions, I asked him for a scholarship for some of our students coming from Pius IX College, for the University of Salvador, and I always received a favourable response. His closeness and availability were a constant over those years.”

TESTIMONY OF FR ALEJANDRO LEÓN70

In 2000 when I became Rector and Parish Priest of St John the Evangelist, the first Salesian parish in the world, in the neighbourhood of La Boca, a few months later, because of a severe storm the parish church collapsed and we had to close it precisely on May 24, the Feast of Mary Help of Christians. I remember that Archbishop Bergoglio accompanied us from the outset and encouraged us to rebuild and reopen the Church. The people of the area and in other communities were very generous, despite the fact we were going through difficult economic and social times. When it came time to reopen the church, the Cardinal, with much availability, came to celebrate and share in the joy of the community. He consecrated the parish to Mary Help of Christians.Already in 1999 he had visited the parish on the occasion of Fr José Blanco sdb’s 90th birthday. He had given him his First Communion since he was chaplain at the Misericordia College in Flores. On this occasion the Cardinal concelebrated, leaving the main celebrant to Fr Blanco. The people really appreciated this familiar gesture which made them feel the Archbishop was joining in their celebrations.

Fr José Blanco and Fr Pascual Chávez, Rector Major

In 2003 Fr Blanco became seriously ill, and the doctors told me he would not last the night or at most the following day, so given the familiarity the Archbishop had engendered amongst us, I called him and gave him the news. In less than 30 minutes, taking the subway, Cardinal Bergoglio was there, at the hospital, holding Fr José’s hand and giving him the anointing of the sick. Then he spent some time chatting with me and asked me how I was experiencing this moment.Often as Parish Priest of San Juan or Santa Catalina de Alejandría, I had to turn to him for various reasons. I always found understanding, fatherly gestures and that faithful outlook that encouraged one to overcome any problem.

71

Jorge Bergoglio and his brother Oscar (seated), on the day of his First Communion

72

7 THE SALESIAN FAMILY AND FRANCIS

Pope Francis, eye-to-eye witha boy in BrazilAt the election of Cardinal Bergoglio, and when he began his service as Bishop of Rome and Successor of St Peter, the Salesian Family greeted him and placed themselves at his disposition through Fr Pascual Chavez Villanueva and Mother Yvonne.The documents we offer here help us to see the bond the Salesian Family has with Pope Francis and the common feeling that has been aroused throughout the vast Salesian movement.RECTOR MAJOR’S MESSAGE ON THE OCCASION OF THE ELECTION OF

POPE FRANCISGiven the election of Pope Francis, the Salesian Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, offers the Congregation and the Salesian Family a new message that confirms the great bond that Salesians have with St Peter’s Successor.‘‘I had the grace of being in St Peter’s Square packed with thousands upon thousands of people, especially young people, at the moment that we heard the much-awaited proclamation:‘‘Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum.Habemus PapamGeorgium Marium Bergoglioqui sibi nomen imposuitFRANCISCUM.”Even though he was not amongst the “papabili”, and initially this caused some confusion for those who did not know him, there was no delay in the welcome that was given to the New Successor of St Peter and the response was a lengthy applause, shouts of joy, and then the first chants: ’Francesco,

73

Francesco, Francesco….’.Once again it was the Holy Spirit guiding the Cardinals in choosing the man God himself had chosen as the Vicar of Christ.With all of you, dear brothers and sisters, members of the entire Salesian Family, and young people, I praise and thank the Lord for the great gift he has given us in the person of Card. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, whom I had the grace of getting to know, and dealing with personally in the General Latin American Epsicopal Conference at Aparecida and, later, for the Beatification of Ceferino Namuncurá.The choice of name, Francis, is significant because in a certain way it picks up some of his characteristic traits - simplicity, poverty, authenticity – and at the same time it becomes programmatic since it highlights some elements that describe the face of the Church today and its relationship with the world. Before imparting his first blessing as Pontiff, he asked us to bless him. In profound silence each one did this from the depths of his or her heart, allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit. I now invite you to invoke the abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit on him, so that he may have the light to discern what the Lord expects of His Church today and may find the energy to do it.In a spirit of faith and with much esteem and devotion we welcome Pope Francis, as Don Bosco would have done, and while we entrust him to the care and maternal guidance of Mary, Help of Christians, we assure him of our affection, our obedience and our most sincere and clear collaboration at this time of new evangelisation.Fr Pascual Chávez V., sdbRector Major

MOTHER YVONNE’S LETTER TO POPE FRANCISExpressing the joy of the entire Institute at the election of the new Bishop of Rome, Mother Yvonne Reungoat, Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians has sent a message welcoming Pope Francis.‘Your Holiness,We come to you with great joy to express our warmest wishes for the mission you have been called to by the will of the Cardinals who took part in the Conclave: Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome.

74

Mother Yvonne visiting the Mother Mazzarello Collegeat San Justo, Argentina

We are at the forefront in praying for the Pope and his high responsibilities, also because of the love for Peter’s Successor that our Founder and Father, Saint John Bosco, passed on to the Salesian Family. Now that we can think of a Pope with a name and a face, our prayer is ever more keen.The barque of Peter has a new Helmsman who has taken on the spiritual legacy of Benedict XVI, and will guide the Church in our time, full of challenges but also full of opportunities and signs of hope.In the name of all the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians across the five continents, I express our filial loyalty to your Magisterium as Pastor and Father of the Universal Church.We wish to express our fidelity to the Pope also through a more authentic religious life, a life loyal to the Gospel and the Salesian charism: these are sources that enliven it and give it vocational fruitfulness.Along with the entire Church we express our commitment to New Evangelisation through the education of the youthful generations, by explicitly proclaiming Jesus.We are convinced that only if we are his passionate disciples can we be missionaries of his love, knowing how to pass on, through our lives, the fascination of his presence that fills human existence with meaning, joy and peace. We join you, Your Holiness, in greeting the Virgin with whom you intend to begin your Pontificate. May Mary Help of Christians continue to bless your life and make your new mission fruitful.We offer our prayer, that in this Year of Faith you enlightened guidance may lead humanity to encounter Jesus.Sr Yvonne Reungoat, fma

RECTOR MAJOR’S LETTER TO POPE FRANCISThe Rector Major greeted Pope Francis in the name of the Congregation and the Salesian Family at the beginning of his Petrine Ministry, in the following letter:‘Your Holiness, I am writing to you on behalf of the Salesian Congregation and the entire Salesian Family to express sentiments of tribute and our best wishes at your election as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff. I am writing on this day of the solemn inauguration of your Pontificate; We knew that we had a great Pastor in Benedict XVI, and we are now grateful to the Lord for having given us another great Pastor in his Successor, in you, Your Holiness and beloved Pope Francis.

75

Meeting between Pope Francis and Fr Pascual Chávez, Rector Major of the Salesians

As Christians and Salesian Religious, it is our desire now to express our joy at your appointment. We renew our loyalty and assure you of the filial respect for you that we have inherited from Don Bosco. He often expressed this in words full of affection and faith when speaking of Peter’s Successor:‘‘Whoever is united with the Pope is united with Christ!” (MB VIII,567).‘‘We will be absolutely respectful of the Apostolic See in everything, anywhere, any time, wherever the Lord may call us.” (MB XV,249).‘‘For me the Pope’s wish is a command.” (MB V,874)‘‘His word must be our rule in everything and for everything.” (MB VI,494)Thus spoke our Founder Don Bosco and this is how we feel in our hearts today. I would like to tell you, Your Holiness, that immediately after your election was announced I spontaneously and joyfully recalled the beautiful and unforgettable experience of Church at Aparecida, in May 2007, where I had the grace of knowing you and greeting you personally. Together we took part in the work there, the celebrations and meetings at the 5th General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops; we met again at the meeting of Argentine Bishops, which you presided at, so we could establish the place and arrangements for the Beatification of the then Venerable Ceferino Namuncurá. I will never forget your words, full of esteem for the work of our Salesian confreres in Patagonia, and your intervention so that Chimpay could be the place for the celebration.I am well aware of your closeness and affection for the Salesians, especially at the Almagro community where Fr Enrique Pozzoli, who was your spiritual director, lived; and for Fr Lorenzo Massa, founder of the San Lorenzo Football Team. I was very much appreciative of your testimony on behalf of our Coadjutor Brother, Blessed Artemides Zatti, when you were the Jesuit Provincial, and for your fatherly concern, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, for our confreres. I have always experienced much joy at your well-known devotion to Mary Help of Christians which so many of our confreres recall.From the moment of your election and when you presented yourself, we have been fascinated by the name you took as Pontiff, a name that picks up many of your own characteristics and which proclaims a programme of renewal in the Church, returning it to its true identity and to the Gospel through simplicity, austerity, and keeping its gaze fixed on the Lord Jesus.From the moment of your election and when you presented yourself, we have been fascinated by the name you took as Pontiff, a name that picks up

76

many of your own characteristics and which proclaims a programme of renewal in the Church, returning it to its true identity and to the Gospel through simplicity, austerity, and keeping its gaze fixed on the Lord Jesus.In fidelity to the Church and our Founder Don Bosco, we accept this invitation of yours, Your Holiness, and we promise that we will always keep it present in our personal lives, our pastoral choices and our apostolic programmes.We assure you of our prayers. May the Holy Spirit assist you in the delicate task Providence has entrusted to you and may the Virgin Mary always be your Help in your ministry.We assure you of our prayers. May the Holy Spirit assist you in the delicate task Providence has entrusted to you and may the Virgin Mary always be your Help in your ministry.We assure you of our prayers. May the Holy Spirit assist you in the delicate task Providence has entrusted to you and may the Virgin Mary always be your Help in your ministry.Rome, 19 March 2013Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco

LETTER OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, FR PASCUAL CHÁVEZ, AFTER WYD 2013 IN RÍO

The Rector Major and his Vicar, Fr Adrian Bregolingive Pope Francis a statue of Our Lady Help of Christians

‘My dear confreres: I am writing to you immediately following the closure of World Youth Day, in Rio de Janeiro.I have had the grace and privilege of being part of this, along with other members of the General Council, Fr Adrian Bregolin, Fr Fabio Attard, Fr Natale Vitali, Fr Esteban Ortiz and Fr Maria Arokiam Kanaga.I was very happy to see so many confreres, provincials, vice provincials, youth ministry delegates, young confreres in formation accompanying the various delegations from five continents.Even though geographical distance and the financial crisis was a limiting

77

factor for many, the arrival of so many other SDBs and young people who wanted to come meant there were more than 7,000 youthful members of the SYM from Salesian works as well as from those of the FMA, Daughters of the Divine Saviour and the Sisters of the Charity of Jesus.I believe I am speaking for everyone who took part when I describe the great joy and enthusiasm of these days for us around the charismatic figure of Pope Francis. His gestures, attitudes and addresses enlightened minds, warmed hearts and reinforced everyone’s desire to be true “disciples and missionaries of Christ” sent into the world, without fear, to serve and transform it.I especially appreciated how the three components – gestures, attitudes and thought – came together seamlessly to help us understand better the figure of Pope Francis. It all explains his moral strength, his freedom to act and speak, his prophetic stance. Only thus can he lend true value to all he does and says in exercising his Petrine ministry. Only thus can we appreciate the vision of the Church that he has and feels he is called to promote. Only thus can we better appreciate his way of governing: he starts from where things are at, and is very sensitive to this, to set processes of change in social dynamics, through a culture of dialogue and respect for diversity, well aware of the irreplaceable role of the Church in collaborating in reconciliation for a fractured world.

Fr Chávez

We are speaking of a Church freed from a worldly spirit, the temptation to harden and solidify itself within its institutional framework, to a bourgeois lifestyle, to a closing in on itself, to clericalism. A Church that may be truly the body of the Word made flesh and, like Him, incarnate in this world, resplendent in the poor and suffering. Its service is to offer Christ and Gospel values for the necessary transformation of society. A Church that can no longer reduce itself to being a small chapel, but rather a home for humanity. In Pope Francis’ heart there is a desire for a Church connoted by openness and where everyone is accepted, in all their diversity of culture, race, tradition, religious confession. Such openness and acceptance are possible through a culture of dialogue and encounter which makes unity with respect for diversity possible. A Church that goes out on the street to evangelise and serve, reaching out to the geographical, cultural and existential periphery. A poor Church that favours the poor, becomes their voice and gives them back

78

a voice to overcome the selfish indifference of those with more, as well as the desperate violence of those who feel most exploited and defrauded. A Church that gives just attention and relevance to women, without whom the Church itself runs the risk of becoming sterile.Of the almost 20 addresses he gave, in my view the most important because they were the most programmatic, were the one he gave to the Brazilian Episcopal Conference and another to leaders in society, as well as the messages to youth who were the central characters in the WYD.

Pope Francis in a moment of prayer with young people in Río de Janeiro

To the Brazilian Bishops: Pope Francis began his address by offering the Aparecida document as a key to understanding the Church’s mission. The Church does not have the power of a transatlantic ocean liner because it is a simple fisherman’s boat. God manifests himself in it through poor means And pastoral success does not depend so much on human efficiency as on God’s creativity. The Church then is called to transform itself bit by bit, recalling that the mystery enters people through the heart and cannot be reduced to rational explanation. The Holy Father than gave the Bishops the icon of Emmaus as a key to understanding the present and future offering an innovative ecclesiological, not a Christological interpretation. He sought to have it understood that abandonment of the Church is due to the fact that it is reduced to being a relic of the past, unable to respond to the problems and challenges of humankind today. The Church cannot escape the night it is experiencing because of the flight of believers to whom it promised something higher, stronger, more resolute and speedy. Unfortunately the Church seems to have forgotten that there is nothing higher than Jerusalem, or stronger than the weakness of the Cross, or more convincing than kindness, love, beauty, or more speedy than the rhythm of pilgrims – the Church should keep step with them to rediscover the tempo of “being with” those with whom it walks, nurturing patience and an ability to listen, comprehension of so many diverse situations. Finally, the Pope identified the grand priorities the Brazilian episcopate should give its attention to.Turning to political and cultural leaders he sought to make them aware of the historic moment we are experiencing, of their responsibility for resolving

79

conflicts, of the urgent need to redeem politics. More than once he emphasises the importance of the culture of encounter they need to foster to overcome the sorrowful exclusion of the elderly through cultural euthanasia that makes it impossible for them to enrich society with their wisdom, values. A culture of encounter that should eliminate the social waste of the young, when they are so often denied the possibility of work and a future.

Pope Francis with young representatives of indigenous cultures,at Río de Janeiro

In his messages to the young, the invitation was always one of investing their energies, their very lives for positive causes for which it is worth spending their lives. In particular, Jesus Christ is the great cause worthy of one’s entire life. He exhorted them to be fearless in making courageous choices. Making use of metaphors he told them they can be God’s field where the good seed germinates, grows and bears fruit; he invited them to go down to the field with God’s team and train to become athletes of Christ; he exhorted them to work in the filed of transformation to renew the Church and be transforming agents in society and the world. Finally he invited them, like Christ and with Christ, to depart, again without fear, to go out and serve the world and enrich it with the gift of Christ and the Gospel, beginning all this by serving their friends and companions, and all the other young people they can contact. So, in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis sent the Church out onto the street, took it to the peripheries, had it speak as a Mother, gave it back energy, and by doing so through his gestures and attitudes, taught us the kind of Church he wants and the kind of rapport it must have with the world.Obviously I experienced this splendid ecclesial event with my brothers and sisters, with the young, as a Salesian, as Rector Major, trying to better understand how this new ecclesial movement has to be accepted, translated and lived out in our Salesian Congregation. And, without there being too much pretence, I have to say that the road we have taken in preparation for the Bicentenary of birth of our beloved Father and Founder, Don Bosco, and especially for GC27, with its pressing theme of “Witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel”, are in perfect harmony with this appeal to Christ, his Gospel, to simplicity, poverty and humility. Through this letter I invite all of you, Salesians and the young, to take up the Holy Father’s addresses again, to take up and bring to life his spiritual and pastoral guidelines as a

80

priority not only for Youth Ministry but also as part of our journey towards the bicentenary.While we continue to pray for Pope Francis, as he himself requests insistently and everywhere, let us entrust the Church and our beloved Congregation to Mary Immaculate, the Help of Christians, that they may be up to what the Lord and the young expect of them.Affectionately, in Don Bosco,Fr Pascual Chávez V., sdb, Rector Major

FINAL MESSAGE OF FR PASCUAL CHÁVEZ TO YOUNG PEOPLE, AS RECTOR MAJOR

‘My Beloved Young People, I cannot hide my excitement in writing to you my last message as the Rector Major. I wish that my words reach your hearts to tell you that I have always loved you and will continue to do so. You are the centre of my life, my prayer and my work. You are my joy, my source of inspiration and hope for the present and for the future that God holds for me.

The Rector Major at one of the many youth gatherings between 2002 and 2014

Thank you for the love you have always shown me, for your prayers that have supported me in the difficult moments of these years of my service. I see your faces aglow with the joy of living and believing, and at the same time clouded by an uncertain future. I do feel and share your hopes and sufferings which I read in your eyes. During these 12 years of ministry as the successor of Don Bosco, I have lived many unforgettable moments with you, such as the World Youth Day in Sydney, in Madrid, in Rio de Janeiro, and at the various meetings of the Salesian Youth Movement in the Provinces, Youth Fests, and camps at Colle Don Bosco and many other places. They were indeed intense moments of the touch of the Holy Spirit, of experiencing our spirit of communion and spirituality. They were also moments of true sharing and brotherhood which have made us grow together in our love for Jesus, the Church, and Don Bosco.Thank you, my dear young people, for your presence which reveals the love of God, for the freshness and the enthusiasm you have shared in these meetings and for the joy that you have given me. With a father’s heart I will

81

continue to love you and I want to invite you to face your future with hope. God does not abandon us, but continues to give us many strong signs of his love.

POPE FRANCIS – A SIGN OF GOD’S LOVE FOR HIS CHURCHWith great joy and amazement we witness today a new springtime announced for the Church and for the world itself. The prophets of doom who predicted the winter and the decadence of the Church, today are forced to rethink. This new breeze, a gift of the Holy Spirit, has found expression in the face and the heart of Pope Francis. His humble, simple and smiling presence reveals his interior life. He is a highly integrated person and his gestures, attitudes and thoughts are all focused on the Lord Jesus, the Word of God who is the embodiment of goodness, tenderness and mercy.We are struck intensely by this Pope, so sweet and at the same time, a rock-like person whose values, moral strength, freedom of speech and action and his enlightening prophetic style are solidly anchored on a convergent point. This unifying point of his person is also a dream and a project of the largest scale.What is this dream that has attracted Pope Francis and is contagiously attracting so many young people? It is the vision of a Church free from spiritual worldliness, and the temptation to retreat into its institutional enclosure; a Church free from bourgeois mentality, inward looking narcissism, clericalism and male chauvinism. It is a Church that is truly incarnated in this world, shining in the poor and the suffering people as an open home for all humanity. In his heart there is a great desire to make it a Church that welcomes everyone, irrespective of the diversity of cultures, races, traditions and religious beliefs, a Church that goes out on the streets to evangelize and to serve, reaching out to the geographical, cultural and existential peripheries. It is a poor Church, which privileges the poor, making their voices heard, to overcome the selfish indifference of those who have plenty but are unwilling to share. He dreams of a Church that gives due importance to women without whom the church herself would risk infertility.Pope Francis is passionately dedicated to this dream and he wants all believers, especially the young people, to live the same dream with missionary zeal. You young people are the indispensable heroes of this new spring. To get out of a use-and-throwaway culture that marginalises and paralyses you with no future, you have to set your hearts on fire, and passionately invest your energies again in your own lives. This implies that you strive for positive, noble causes of great moral values, for which it is worth expending your life. Pope Francis and Don Bosco ask this of you. I too, in this my last message, give you this as my testament to treasure in your hearts and to accomplish in your lives.

YOUR YOUTH, A GIFT FOR OTHERSIn these years I have invited you to treat your youth as a precious gift, and to direct your life according to a clear vocation plan. During my meetings and

82

celebrations with you, I have seen clearly the great quest and longing for happiness in your faces. The Christian faith is the real answer to your desire, because it alone is the message of fundamental happiness, the promise and the gift of ‘‘life eternal".Drawing on the Salesian spirituality implies entering into the very heart of Don Bosco, where commitment and joy go together, and where holiness and happiness are inseparable. From the beginning of my ministry, I have proposed to you a very simple, cheerful and serene holiness. The Salesian Youth Spirituality aims to help you to meet and establish a friendship of trust with Jesus Christ. I have always maintained that the Church is the right place chosen by Christ for meeting him and listening to His Word. Only his discreet presence can stimulate your freedom and educate your mind, heart and will. A wee sign of trust from you is enough for him to tell you tenderly: ‘‘Come and stay with me, you who are thirsty and hungry for happiness and true good things that make life grow. Come, you who are tired, discouraged and depressed, you who suffer in your body, in your spirit and in the depths of your heart."Listen, my dear young people, to His words which come into you with a gentle consolation. In the Eucharist they become your own flesh and  blood giving you new life. It is a new life that is nourished by prayer, fellowship and service. Its a new life understood and lived as a vocation, mission, faithful dedication and total availability to others. Listen to the heartfelt appeal of Pope Francis to the whole Church: ‘‘Let us go out, go out to offer to everyone the life of Jesus Christ!" How could you resist this call? It’s an appeal that contains the same intensity and the passion of the “Da mihi animas,” of Don Bosco. Your youthful generosity cannot but exult and passionately embrace this appeal, by getting rid of a weak and shrinking faith that cripples all energy needed for a witnessing life.You are called to live a faith that manifests itself as prophecy, as the certainty of being loved by God so as to make him your only security. In his name you can risk all, without letting yourselves be intimidated by anything or anyone, without being influenced by other attractions of the world and without settling down for a mediocre life.

Pope Francis with a group of young people visiting the Vatican

The invitation of Pope Francis for you is to go out without fear to serve the 83

world, to enrich it with the gift of Christ and his Gospel. He places his confidence in you for really changing the world, because the Risen Jesus is with you, all the time and until the end of time, and makes all things new. ‘‘An authentic faith always implies a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values and to leave something better after our passage on the earth "(EG, 183).MY DEAR YOUNG PEOPLE:As I take leave of you, I entrust you with these words flowing from my fatherly heart. I have always loved you and will continue to do so and remind you to Jesus, your friend and mine. So I wish to make my own the words of our beloved Don Bosco: ‘‘Unto my last breath, my life will be for you, my dear young people!" . I also ask you for your prayers that I may continue to serve the Church and the Salesian Family with fidelity and love.I entrust you to Mary Our Help, the model of holiness,  who lived her life with consistency and completeness as the star of new evangelisation. May she always accompany you with her maternal tenderness in all the moments of your life. May she transform you into beautiful witnesses of communion, of service, of generous and ardent faith, of justice and of love for the poor, so that, the joy of the Gospel message may reach all of the young people and that no corner of the world may be deprived of its light.Always yours …Fr Pascual Chávez V., SdbRECTOR MAJORVALDOCCO, 31 JANUARY ’14

INTERVIEW WITH FR ÁNGEL FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME 28

What was the atmosphere like over these weeks of the General Chapter?Fr Ángel. First the sense of welcome, fully in tune with the Holy Father. Then there was the effort my predecessor made to present the need we have to think of ourselves as being mystics, prophetic and serving communities. The result was a marvellously fraternal atmosphere, one of harmony, seeking things from a faith point of view. There were no pressure groups or lobbies. There was an attitude of prayer and searching. And what did it show? There was a wonderful convergence of thinking even in straw votes for various

28  The new Rector Major in an interview given to ZENIT, gives us various details concerning: the General Chapter atmosphere; Cardinal Bergoglio in Buenos Aires; Benedict XVI; news regarding scandals, and how Congregations, Orders or Religious were dreamed up by the Spirit, and how God’s Spirit will sustain them. We publish a part of this.

84

services.This convergence was also there at your election - first ballot, right?Fr Ángel. For me the choice was totally unexpected, since I was just a poor Spaniard who had been in Argentina for five years and now I was going to take up the running of our large Mediterranean Province in Spain. I didn’t stand out in any way, made no special intervention. When we try to do things in God’s way the Spirit surprises us everywhere in the Church.

Fr Ángel Fernández Artime and the day of his election as Rector Major

You lived in Buenos Aires and knew Pope Francis there …Fr Ángel. I knew the then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio well, and had met him various times at the Archbishop’s house, on various other occasions with the Salesians, and at the Feast of Mary Help of Christians at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians where he was baptised. Then we would meet him sometimes when he came to pray. I believe it is a gift of the Spirit in this springtime of the Church.In Buenos Aires was he like they tell us he was?Fr Ángel. Let me emphasise that everything that has been said is absolutely true. Who is the Pope, this servant of all, the Bishop of Rome as he likes to call himself? He is a helpful, simple, very humble, very accessible man, who is very clear about his preferential option for the poor. He would catch the metro, the subway to visit a house. This is the Cardinal Bergoglio I knew. Therefore he is the same now. I saw his great devotion to Our Lady and his love for Mary Help of Christians. And I can say something that is very nice: he has a wonderful smile and I believe Rome has seen a lot of this since he became Pope.And Benedict XVI?Fr Ángel. Pope Francis would not have been possible if it were not for the great freedom and faithful perspective of Benedict XVI. I say this with conviction because I knew Pope Benedict XVI. One has to be very free and a

85

person of faith to do what he did. Someone who does not see this is very narrow-minded.Can you tell us any stories about Francis in Buenos Aires?Fr Ángel. Anecdotally I can tell you that was always very friendly with me and when I called for some ordinary thing the answer was always: ’Gallego! How are all my Salesians?’ because as you well know any Spaniard in Argentina is called ’gallego’. And I can say he was always welcoming like that. For example I would call by phone and present myself: ’I am the Salesian Provincial’ and his secretary would say: ’Look Father, he is at a meeting, but give me your phone number and he will call you as soon as he finishes.’ In half an hour or an hour he would call: ’Gallego, how’s things!’ Admirable in someone with so much responsibility.

86

8 FRANCIS SPEAKS ABOUT DON BOSCO AND HIS SONS

Pope Francis

It is very interesting to look at some writings of Archbishop Bergoglio and then Pope Francis to see what he thinks of the Salesians and Don Bosco himself. Which is why we offer a small selection of texts:‘‘The first care for the poor is of a social welfare kind: Are you hungry? Here you are, have something to eat.” But our assistance can’t remain there; there has to be room for development and integration within the community The poor person cannot remain perpetually excluded. We can not accept that the underlying discourse is: ‘‘Those of us who are doing well will give something to someone doing badly but stay there, away from us." That is not Christian. It is essential to incorporate that person as soon as possible into the community, through education, schools of arts and trades … so the person can make progress. This is the idea that prevailed in the late 19th century schools created by Don Bosco for all the needy youngsters who came to his Oratory. Don Bosco thought it was no good just sending them off to high school because that wouldn’t help them in life, so he created schools of arts and trades."29

At the moment they accuse the Archbishop of Buenos Aires of having preference for the priests in the slums. This is not a new phenomenon: in the north of Italy in the Kingdom of Sardinia, Don Bosco worked with the poor and also aroused the distrust of the Bishops. Don Cafasso and Don Orione the same. These were in the vanguard of those working with the needy. Somehow they forced change in the authorities. Here the priests in the slums also brought about a change in mentality and behaviour of church communities."30

29 BERGOGLIO Jorge y SKORKA Abraham, Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra Vintage Español. Mondadori. U.S. April 2013. 220 pages. p. 160

30  Op. cit. p. 16587

One of the things that decided Jorge Marío Bergoglio to enter the Jesuits was its ‘‘missionary character”. The Pope’s admiration for missionaries is reflected in the interview that was published in 16 Jesuit culture magazines, including ‘‘Reason and Faith".At one point in the interview he said that when reading the life of the Salesian missionaries who went to Patagonia, he read ‘‘a story of life and fruitfulness …" Missionary ministry should not be obsessed with transmitting piecemeal a collection of doctrines to impose them insistently. Missionary proclamation focuses on the essential, on what is necessary, on what is the more passionate and attractive, what makes the heart burn, as for the disciples at Emmaus.”31

As for the Salesian mission, the Pope emphasised: ‘‘When the Fathers of La Civiltá Cattolica came to see me, I told them about the frontiers of thought, of unique, weak thinking. I recommended these frontiers to them. As the Rector Major of the Salesians knows everything for them began on the basis of a dream of education at the frontier, the dream of Don Bosco that thrust his Salesians to the geographical peripheries of Patagonia.32

THE AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS GAVE TO MEMBERS OF THE 27th GENERAL CHAPTER

At noon on March 31, 2014, in the Clementine hall at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, the Holy Father, Francis received members of the 27th General Chapter of the Salesians of Don Bosco in audience. The meeting began with the words of Father Ángel Fernández Artime transcribed below.

31 Pope Francis was given a long interview by Antonio Spadano, editor of Civiltà Cattolica. In the interview, the Pope stressed the need for a renewed evangelisation, focused on love for the person and the first proclamation of Christ as Saviour, Vatican City September 19, 2013

32  L´Osservatore Romano, no. 2, Friday January 10, 2014. p. 11.88

The Rector Major at the Vatican

RECTOR MAJOR’S GREETING TO POPE FRANCISDear Pope Francis,Beloved Father,We are very happy to be here with you. Thank you for this opportunity to meet you. For us it is a very precious gift and a unique occasion, allowing us to express the feelings we bear for you in our hearts. We love you, Father! We greatly value your courage and your testimony. With joy we see your great love for the Lord Jesus, for the Church, and your desire for the profound renewal of the whole Christian community over which you preside in service and love.We know very well that for Don Bosco, love for the Pope meant love for the Church and love for the mission. Our meeting would have no meaning were it not accompanied at the same time by the desire to express to you, dear Father, our willingness to renew our charismatic and missionary commitment to the Church and the world with particular attention to the young, especially the poorest and most abandoned. So we accept your invitation to open the doors of our houses and our hearts, to be announcers of Gospel joy, believing strongly in a God who loves human beings and desires their salvation. In the words of ‘‘Gaudium et spes”, we want to share the joys and sorrows of today’s world and of the young people who live in it, fully committing ourselves to building the Kingdom of God.During this General Chapter, with the theme of being ‘‘Witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel”, we have felt that we are deeply in tune with your Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”. This text has enlightened and guided our reflection.It has been an occasion to reflect deeply on our Salesian charismatic identity, bearing in mind at the same time the need to interpret what Don Bosco experienced and passed on to us, in a way that is relevant. We have identified a path to renewal in which we commit ourselves to living the mystical dimension of consecrated individuals who intend to give absolute primacy to God, the Lord of our life. Moved by the Spirit of Jesus therefore we want to be “seekers and witnesses of God”, joyfully accompanying young people on a journey of human and Christian growth.We are proposing to renew the prophetic witness of our fraternal life. In a world often torn by conflict at every level, it seems to us that our religious life has as one of its principle tasks witnessing to the joy of a communion of brothers who feel they are all disciples of the Lord. It is a fellowship that involves our daily life, our work, our prayer and it becomes in itself a proclamation of a life expressed in new relationships inspired by the words of the Gospel  and able to attract young people to the precious experience of a life given for others according to Don Bosco’s charism.

89

In our mission we want to reaffirm our desire to be servants of the young, through an educative proposal inspired by Gospel values and with a generous commitment to transforming the world. We want to reaffirm the criterion of Don Bosco’s choice: preferential availability for the poorest of the young, the most disadvantaged peoples, those on the margins, in traditional missionary settings and in the more secularised societies.We welcome, dear Pope Francis, your words and proposals for an ecclesial choice of the major guidelines which will guide us over the  next six years.With the entire Salesian Family I take this opportunity to thank you, for having agreed to come to Turin for the Second Centenary of Don Bosco’s birth.With the affection of children we assure you of our prayers, as we entrust your mission to the Virgin Help of Christians, Mother of the Church and we ask for your paternal blessing.Vatican City, March 31, 2014Fr Ángel Fernández ArtimeRector Major

90

ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCISTO PARTICIPANTS IN THE 27th GENERAL CHAPTER

OF THE SALESIAN CONGREGATION

Clementine Hall, Vatican March 31, 2014

Dear Brothers,Welcome! I thank Fr Angelo for his words. I hope that he and the new General Council will ably serve the Salesian Congregation by leading, guiding and supporting it along its journey. May the Holy Spirit help you to grasp the expectations and challenges of our time, especially those of young people, and interpret them in the light of the Gospel and your charism.I imagine that during the Chapter—which had as its theme ‘‘Witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel”—you had before you Don Bosco and the young; and Don Bosco with his motto: Da mihi animas, cetera tolle. He strengthened this programme with two other elements: work and temperance. I remember that at boarding school it was forbidden to take a siesta!… Temperance! For the Salesians and for us! ‘‘Work and temperance,” he said‘‘will make the Congregation flourish”. When one thinks of working for the good of souls one overcomes the temptation to spiritual worldliness, one does not seek after other things, but only God and his Kingdom. Temperance, then, is a sense of proportion, being content, being simple. May the poverty of Don Bosco and of Mama Margaret inspire every Salesian and each of your communities to live an austere life based on the essentials, on closeness to the poor, on transparency and responsibility in managing temporal goods.The evangelisation of youth is the mission which the Holy Spirit has entrusted to you in the Church. It is intimately connected with their education: the journey of faith is inserted into that of their growth and the Gospel also enriches human maturity. It is necessary to prepare young people to work in society in harmony with the spirit of the Gospel as workers of justice and peace, and to live as active members of the Church. Therefore avail yourselves of essential pedagogical and cultural advancements and

91

updates in order to respond to the current educational crisis. May Don Bosco’s experience and his “preventative system” always sustain you in your commitment to life with the young. May your presence among them be distinguished by that tenderness which Don Bosco called fondness, employing other forms of language too, but well aware that that language of the heart is fundamental for approaching and befriending them.The vocational dimension here is fundamental. Sometimes a vocation to consecrated life is confused with a choice of volunteer work, and this distorted view is not good for Institutes. Next year— 2015—which has been dedicated to consecrated life, will be a favourable occasion to present its beauty to young people. Partial visions should always be avoided so as not to arouse vocational responses that are frail and based on weak motives. Apostolic vocations are ordinarily the result of good youth ministry. Caring for vocations requires specific attention: first prayer, then activities, personalized programmes, courage in making the proposal, guidance and family involvement. The vocational geography has changed and is changing, and consequently more demanding formation, guidance and discernment is needed.In working with young people, you encounter the world of excluded youth. And this is dreadful! Today, it is dreadful to think that there are more that 75 million unemployed young people here, in the West. Let us consider the vast reality of unemployment, with its many negative consequences. Let us think about the dependencies, which unfortunately are many but which derive from the common root of a lack of true love. Reaching out to young people who have been marginalised requires courage, human maturity and much prayer. The best should be sent to do this work! The best! There can be a risk of getting caught up in enthusiasm, sending people to these frontiers who are keen, but not suitable. Careful discernment and constant guidance are therefore needed. The criterion is this: the best should go there. ‘‘I need this one to be a superior here, or to study theology…”. But if you have that mission, send him there! The best!Thanks be to God, you do not live or work as isolated individuals but as a community: and thank God for this! The community supports the whole of the apostolate. At times religious communities are fraught with tensions, and risk becoming individualistic and scattered, whereas what is needed is deep communication and authentic relationships. The humanising power of the Gospel is witnessed in fraternity lived in community and is created through welcome, respect, mutual help, understanding, kindness, forgiveness and joy. The family spirit that Don Bosco left to you helps greatly in this respect, it promotes perseverance and draws people to the consecrated life.Dear brothers, the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco is almost upon us. It will be a propitious moment to propose your Founder’s charism anew. Mary Help of Christians has never failed to help the Congregation, and certainly she will never let it be lacking in the future. May her maternal intercession obtain from God the desired and longed for results. I bless you and pray for you, and, please, pray for me too! Thank you!

92

GC27 meets the Pope

93

9 BY WAY OF CONCLUSIONIt is very interesting to re-interpret this encounter between Francis and Don Bosco from a genealogical and procedural perspective, to describe his Salesian roots, his formation at school, how he gained a realistic and supportive Catholic culture, his view of the Salesian contribution to his country, his devotion to Mary Help of Christians, Ceferino Namuncurá, Blessed Artémides Zatti, and finally his relationship with different Salesians in the various national and ecclesial circumstances he experienced.Being able to read these valuable texts written by the current Pope Francis or those referring or addressed to him, keeping in mind the context, transforms our reading into something which is no longer mere information or scholarship, but invites us to an exercise of reflection and discernment. It means reinterpreting history as the history of Salvation!No doubt this vital Salesian dimension of Pope Francis’ experience helps us to understand him better and allows us, as sons of Don Bosco, to question how we experience a warm sense of belonging to the Church, to better continue our mission as educators, pastors of the young at the beginning of the 21st century.Ultimately all this material helps us identify with Pope Francis’ Salesian experience throughout his life, but we are aware that this is only one aspect shaping his rich personality.Here it would seem appropriate to recommend reading his: “Reflexiones en Esperanza”33 This book, dated 1992, before he had been consecrated Bishop, is a compendium of various writings, some of a pastoral nature, others truly spiritual and mystical reflections, some reflections on priestly life or offering elements for a theology of religious life. Others tackle the topic of ’insistential’ philosophy. Finally there is no lack of topics inviting reflection on the ethics of politics. All the articles have a common idea: the possibility of and need for Hope. It is very interesting that the one who, over time would become Pope Francis had tackled so many different topics from this point of view; especially those referring to the relationship between Hope, Politics and Ministry and also the reference to the relationship between Hope and the Institution.We know that Francis is a Jesuit through and through. In this regard Fr Alonso Restrepo, who was the Jesuit Provincial in Argentina when Archbishop Bergoglio was Archbishop in Buenos Aires, says:‘‘He did not limit himself to teaching and preaching about prayer. He lived it. Besides the letters and writings of St Ignatius of Loyola, whom he knew perfectly as Master of Novices and Superior, he read and meditated on St John of the Cross, St Teresa of Jesus and the spiritual diary of Blessed Peter Faber, a Jesuit."

33 BERGOGLIO Jorge Mario, Reflexiones en Esperanza, Librería Editrice Vaticana, Romana (Reflections on hope).

94

Fr Pascual Chávez, Rector Major of the Salesians, referring to Pope Francis’ closeness to the Salesian charism, says:‘‘Everyone knows that the Pope is Latin American. as to whether or not he is a bit Salesian I would say this: he is a Pope with a Franciscan name, a Dominican habit (all white) and he is a Jesuit, so we also dare say he is a Salesian, since he himself has told us he had a great Salesian influence through his education and family history."So, sensing this frank connection between Francis and Don Bosco, and following the historico-genealogical and procedural method in its religious and theological component, it seems pertinent to delve into the relationship between Ignatian spirituality and Salesian spirituality embodied by Don Bosco. In what follows we present a brief scheme, the result of Fr Giuseppe Buccellato’s thesis defended at the Gregorian University.This outline allows us to delve into the roots of the spiritual experience of Don Bosco and find all the Ignatian contributions he received. To the picture that emerges from Buccellato’s text we have added references to Saints Peter Faber and Charles Borromeo for the links to Saint Ignatius, Saint Francis de Sales and Pope Francis.

Bucellato schema

But it is Don Bosco himself who tells us in his own words what unites him to 95

St Ignatius and the Jesuits: ‘‘But if it is my greatest desire that our Congregation should grow and increase the number of sons of the apostles" Don Bosco said, ‘‘it is also my great and even greater wish that these members be zealous ministers, worthy of St Francis of Sales as the Jesuits are worthy sons of the zealous St Ignatius of Loyola. They are split up in a way that one does not know about the other, and far from one another they perfectly fulfil the Rule given them by their first superior, just as it would be if they were in community. Wherever there is a Jesuit, I say, there is a model of virtue, an exemplar of holiness: wherever he preaches, hears confessions, proclaims the Word of God. Is there more?Aware as we are of the difficult times of change that Pope Francis has experienced and discovering how Salesian values, among many others, were forming his beliefs throughout his life, we can ask: How have the Council and post-conciliar period influenced the religious experience of Pope Francis? What are the theological principles that illuminate his practice? What is the image of God that he passes on to us?The historical, genealogical, procedural religious and theological method we have tried to follow has an ultimate component which is its formative dimension. At this point we include the following questions: What are the beliefs he reaffirms in us? What does he teach us? How does the life of this Jesuit whom the Lord had wanted to spend some time in Don Bosc’so house, and now as Pope Francis, challenge us? How does it invite us all to return to the freshness of the Gospel?

96

Appendices - documentsThe appendices that follow aim to throw light on and broaden our understanding of the Salesians who were of great importance in Pope Francis’ life, according to his own words.We offer:1) Fr Enrique Pozzoli’s mortuary letter.2) Fr Cayetano Bruno’s mortuary letter.3) The letter in which the current Cardinal Archbishop, Mario Aurelio Poli, expressed his without limits in the presence of Fr Bruno.4) A brief contextualised biography allows the reader to ponder the life of Francis in the complex world in which he moves.

97

FR ENRIQUE POZZOLIPIUS IX COLLEGEDon Bosco 002–Buenos AiresRepública ArgentinaBuenos Aires, 20 February 1962Dear confreres,One by one the living testimonies of the first glorious Salesians who arrived in Argentina are disappearing; they came to instil the unending light of the Gospel and of Salesian life. I am here to announce the death of our beloved and unforgettable confrere, Fr Enrique Pozzoli, born in Senna Lodigiana, November 29, 1880, and died in Buenos Aires on October 20 last.The merits accumulated during his fruitful life have disappeared with him, but what remains for us are indelible memories and his sublime effort.His loss has been great, as illustrated by the difficulty in finding someone to fill the huge void left by his departure. His great gifts, some natural, others freely infused in him by God and further nurtured by the Congregation and his own personal effort, make it difficult to outline his life precisely.Fr Rua sent him to us in 1903 as a young priest, as an assistant in Argentina:‘‘Here is a champion who has formed many by his example.”We saw him arrive as a graceful, beardless, baby-faced young man so much so that it seemed strange to see him go up to the altar as a prisoner of liturgical habits.He went down into the courtyard to play with the aspirants at Bernal as one of them, while he was struggling with this new language.He served as an assistant in the poor infirmary at the Salesian novitiate, and it was here that he showed the first characteristic of his life, which Fr Vespignani immediately knew how to benefit from.One day he ran to knock on the Rector’s door, to tell him that one of the patients who had been forgotten was in a serious condition: “He is dying, Father!” They immediately had to call the doctor, who confirmed this precocious diagnosis.We don’t know if they gave lessons in medicine at San Benigno or Foglizzo mixed in with Philosophy and Theology. What is certain is that he had an insight and ongoing logic in everything he did or said. He was quickly shifted to the infirmary at San Carlos, the Mother House, as it was called at the time: a very poor infirmary that saw many Salesians die more than poorly but experience the charity and intuitions of Fr Pozzoli.The boys also had a refuge on that first floor where they could go, fleeing

98

school discipline, rightly or wrongly, which the good Father knew how to take a good look at. He could tell them in his dialect: ‘‘Over in Milan there is a hospital where it is a pleasure to be sick.” Indeed they always felt good with the good Father, especially during the rigours of winter, until the good infirmarian returned them, resignedly, to the discipline of the boarding school, which unfortunately was always pretty tough.Later he extended this first experience in medicine, accepting the request of the chaplain at the Italian Hospital, a refuge for the Carbonari at the time, and his friendly simplicity gradually won people over, to the extent that today a perfect religious service exists there … he left a profound memory with them.In the spare moments that his work allowed him, he sought other activities to do with his mission. It was then that he got a camera, and this little distraction never left him right to the end of his life.There are some picturesque stories around concerning the ease with which he took part in any public event the Congregation was involved in order to document the various ceremonies. With a smile on his lips he would come into the dining room late with still wet copies, happy to have saved some important event from oblivion. It wasn’t such a great photo, as his friend Fr De Agostini would say, who used to joke about the poor quality of his photographs. But he wasn’t after art, just documentation. This is why during the holidays he would ask to go with the great missionaries to the pampas, now forgotten—Fr Durando and Fr Buodo—happily helping them in work and hardship … and the camera was always up there next to the portable altar. He was no writer but he did not want the desert enterprises to be forgotten, so going back to work he would take up his pencil and write up a travel diary, which he then got some charitable confreres to correct.Many real missionary heroics, otherwise condemned to oblivion were documented in his simple if quaint style, characterised by his humour. He was no orator; but whenever he was given a chance to preach the retreats, he preached a truly ongoing syllogism … The effect of his words, guaranteed by the cheerful integrity of his life, needed neither criticism nor praise, but quiet acceptance.He wasn’t even an artist, but amongst his pupils he founded an academy with which he sanctified Sundays. He also infused his logic there, giving them principles of perspective and colour to free them from the exaggerated modernism that dominates today; and some of them even overcame this and achieved a remarkable success.During his last years, when illness had weakened him to the point of denying him all mental effort, practicality accompanied him in everything. He had great ideas in mechanics, for example, which he wanted to transform into reality at all costs. Lack of means forced him to abandon projects that really would have deserved to be patented. He had a passion for watches. Clock towers especially were his final effort, like an unfinished symphony cut off by illness. We do not believe his priestly formation would have allowed him

99

degrees in philosophy, theology or canon law, but when the Doctors of theology were discussing cases of conscience with the old priests formed in the old way, Fr Pozzoli had the last word, and when the final solution came all they could say was: ‘‘Father is right.”This was the main feature of his personality: the theological and moral criteria that made him a safe judge of conscience, skilled in the application of the probabilistic approach with which he would relieve souls and draw them away from sin with brief and fervent exhortations. Salesians, Secular clergy, past pupils and older ones too, felt special need of him.His faith was not about appearances, and his piety was not austere but warm.When death was approaching the first time, he left everything else aside; his only concern and conversation was to think of eternity, which he thought was imminent.He briefly escaped, and went back to his busy work. Fifteen days after a tremendous operation, the vitality of his spirit, a prisoner in a sick body, allowed him to go to Europe to say a final goodbye to his family. As soon as he was back he was active to the point that a few days before he died we saw him with hammer and chisel installing heating intended to relieve the sick in the infirmary.His final hour arrived. He calmly requested a place in the Hospital that had witnessed his earlier efforts. The surgery he was given to save him was a torture; but he knew that it was the end.To the Superiors who asked him to offer his pains up for an increase in vocations which we are so much in need of, and which we are currently having a real crusade for, he said unexpectedly: ‘‘I will pray for the perseverance of those who are with us!…” It was like his last will and testament. His funeral was a great testimony to the appreciation everyone had for him. We had the honour and benefit of his company for sixty years. May God receive him into his Glory.Pray that the Lord may send us many vocations of the mettle of our dear Fr Enrique.Also pray for this Province and for yours,Affectionately in C.J. Fr. IGNAZIO MINERVINIProvincial

FATHER CAYETANO BRUNO

100

Fr Cayetano Bruno 

Father Cayetano Bruno was born in Córdoba on July 23, 1912. His parents, originally from Italy, were Epifanía and Gaetano Bruno. He was baptised in the parish of Pilar and confirmed when he was 7 at the Pius X College in Córdoba. He continued his primary studies here after having been at San Buenaventura College in the same city.In contact with the Salesian environment and getting to know Don Bosco, his vocation grew and he entered the aspirantate at Vignaud (Córdoba Province) in 1924. A few years later he made his novitiate in the same place and his first religious profession on August 9, 1928. He continued his Salesian formation as a practical trainee at Vignaud and in 1933 was sent to study theology at the international Institute at Villada. On November 29, 1936 he received priestly ordination in the church of Mary Help of Christians at Córdoba.He was then sent to specialise in Canon Law at the Lateran University in Rome where he obtained his doctorate in 1939. The following year he was sent to the Theologate at Villada (Córdoba) as Catechist, Professor of Canon Law and Liturgy. During this time he developed his work as a judge for the Archdiocesan curia in Córdoba until in 1952 he was sent to the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin as a Professor. In 1957 he was appointed Dean of the Canon Law Faculty at the same University which had moved to Rome. In 1965 he joined the Salesian community of Editorial Don Bosco in Buenos Aires to do research and publish works on Church History.Behind the hidden and silent life of Father Cayetano Bruno nobody could fail to discover the richness of his personality.1. The Salesian priestFather Cayetano left us an ongoing testimony of his consecration to the Lord. His life was dedicated to nothing other than serving God in silence and fidelity. His passion and exactitude in fulfilling the Rule of life was proverbial. He called the attention of more than one of us to it. When you got to know him closely you could see the coherence of someone who was convinced that the best gift he could give God was to give his life completely in humble service to God.He always offered this service as a priest and constantly as a confessor.

101

Despite his work as a researcher, he never failed to offer his presence for hours in the parish confessional or for religious communities who asked for him. God’s vocation for him was not to be the director of works, but a director of the spirit. And he did this with rigorous precision while he had the strength. Daily Mass and saying the Divine Office were never absent from his life. Fr Cayetano ‘‘breathed God” constantly.2. Researcher and historianTo the broader public Fr Cayetano was and continues to be known as the researcher and author of books on Church, Salesian and Argentine history.You could say he was born to live amidst files and work behind a typewriter. His light could often be seen on before dawn, waiting for the sun to rise. He would make his meditation, pray the Liturgy of the Hours and celebrate Mass very early, so the sun would surprise him bending over his typewriter. Without doubt he is the Argentine Salesian who has written the most. Some 30 books on canon law and history, as far as we know, came from his mind and fingers:

Bases para un Concordato entre la Santa Sede y la Argentina (1947). La Virgen Generala (1954). Para una reforma católica de la Constitución Argentina (1956). El Derecho Público de la Iglesia en la Argentina (1956). El Derecho de los salesianos y de las Hijas de María Auxiliadora en la

Argentina (1957). El Derecho Público de la Iglesia en Indias (1967). Historia de la Iglesia en la Argentina (doce volúmenes 1966-1981). Historia Argentina (1976). Las florecillas de San Francisco Solano (1976). Las florecillas de San Martín de Porres (1981). Los Salesianos y las Hijas de María Auxiliadora (cinco volúmenes 1981-

J993). La década laicista en Ia Argentina, 1880- 1890 (1984). El aborigen americano en Ia Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias

(1987). La evangelización del aborigen americano (1988). Creo en la vida eterna (el ocaso cristiano de los próceres) I y II (1988 y

1990). Apóstoles de la evangelización en la cuenca del Plata (1990). La España misionera ante el V centenario del gran descubrimiento

(1990). Semblanzas misioneras de la Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego e islas

Malvinas (1991). La presencia de España en Indias (1991). Las reducciones jesuíticas de indios guaraníes (1991). La acción benéfica de España en Indias (1992). La evangelización de la Patagonia y de la Tierra del Fuego (1992). Las órdenes religiosas en la evangelización de las Indias (1992). La Argentina nació católica (1992).

102

El ocaso cristiano de los próceres (1992).Everything Fr Cayetano Bruno wrote was the result of his immediate research into the relevant files. He spent the day slowly and steadily in the archives, and in many cases weeks and months. He had no time for rest or holidays. He was a frequent researcher in:

The Vatican Secret Archives and the Roman Archives of religious orders and congregations (Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Mercederians, Vincentians, Salesians, etc..).

The Archives of the Indies in Seville. The National Archives in Madrid. The General Archive of the Kingdom in Simancas (Valladolid, Spain). The Central Salesian Archives in Rome. The General Archives of the Nation in Buenos Aires. The National Archives in Río de Janeiro Brazil. The Provincial Archives, Argentina. The Salesian archives in Argentine Provinces and in South America.

All this great work of our confrere won him some awards:While in Rome, he received the 1978 National Consecration Prize, awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Education in Italy for his dedication to research and the significance of his work.In 1982, on the occasion of a trip to Rome to do research at the Vatican Archives, he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as a “Member of the Pontifical Council for Historical Sciences” in order to contribute to Church history studies on the Church in Latin America.In 1990, for promoting a greater understanding of issues to do with General San Martín, he received the “Palmas Sanmartinianas” medal from the Instituto Nacional Sanmartiniano.In 1992 he received the “José Manuel Estrada” award from the Archdiocesan Commission of Culture in Buenos Aires given to those who life and work have shown excellence.In 1992 he received the “José Manuel Estrada” award from the Archdiocesan Commission of Culture in Buenos Aires given to those who life and work have shown excellence.On August 30 that same year he received the “Father Leonardo Castellani” award in the context of the 11th Catholic Book Exhibition, where he was recognised for having spread intellectual values in our country.His name and his work were known throughout Argentina and, without his wishing it, he was named a fellow of several academies of history, of which we can list the following:The National History Academy of Argentina. The Archivium Journal of this Academy published some of his works. The first appeared in 1959 as a warm evocation of another great historian of the Society of Jesus, Father William Furlong.

103

Following this work, he was invited by the Ministry of Foreign and Religious Affairs to lecture on a memorial ceremony held to mark the bicentenary of the establishment of the Viceregency of Rio de la Plata. Also, the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires had him as a speaker at the event dedicated to the first Salesian missionary expedition to Argentina. At that time, the current Archbishop of Buenos Aires and the Cardinal Primate of Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, then provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, said in his introductory remarks, “Fr Cayetano Bruno—or as Fr Furlong describes him, Don Bosco come to life again—had the happy knack of discovering the religious heart of a people. His tenacity as a researcher and his dedication as a religious made it possible for pages lying asleep in the archives to become an expression of the unvarying religiosity of our people.”The National Academy of History appointed him as a member in 1975. In 1982 he presented a research paper on General San Martin in a ceremony organised by the Religious Affairs Office to mark the bicentenary of the birth of General San Martin.He was also a member of the following number of institutions:

The Royal Academy of History in Madrid. The National Academy of History in Lima. The Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute. The Academy of Geography and History of Guatemala and other similar

institutions.3. Teacher and professorFather Bruno was a Doctor in Canon law, and as such taught in:The Salesian “Cabrera and José Clemente Villada” Theological Institute of the city of Cordoba International between 1940 and 1952. While in that city he was appointed synodal judge of the Archdiocesan curia.He taught at the Faculty of Canon Law at the Salesian University in Rome from 1952 to 1965. In 1959 the Faculty, based until this year in the city of Turin, was moved to Rome, and Father Cayetano was appointed Dean until his return to Buenos Aires in 1965.In 1976-1978 he returned to Rome to take over as Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Pontifical Salesian University.4. The confrereIn 1965, Father had completed his pivotal work: The History of the Church in Argentina. he was then moved to Buenos Aires to begin its publication. It is a work of great magnitude (12 volumes) and was published between 1966 and 1981 by the Editorial Don Bosco in Buenos Aires. With this work Fr Cayetano Bruno was known throughout Latin America. He had reached his zenith. He was almost 70 years old. Nobody would have thought that his pen was to go into the shadows of silence. Father could not stop, and continued researching, visiting museums, travelling abroad, seeking documents … And many other works kept coming … while many others lie hidden in the secret

104

of their draft form … and there they await a hand to bring them to the light of day.But it was then, in the evening of his life, when the confrere in him began to shine brightly. His hunched figure at work, the smile always on his lips, his calm word, ever friendly presence brought his fellowship to the fore and he never hid it. He continued to write and hear confessions all day … in the evening you’d see him in a simple cassock heading for the parish church of San Carlos where his penitents were waiting. And so it was: silent, brotherly, cheerful and hard-working, affable and kind, until his health began to abandon him.It was thought appropriate to send him to the Salesian “Artémides Zatti” rest home where he prepared for death, as the faithful servant awaits his master’s word: ‘”Come and enjoy the reward you have deserved.” It was July 13, 2003. Heaven received someone who had never lived for himself.The impact of his death was witnessed to by the number of letters received by the province during his farewell Mass at the parish of St John Bosco, San Isidro:‘‘Many are the bonds of fraternal friendship and sincere admiration that unite me to dear Father Cayetano Bruno. I had heard some of his former students speak of him in glowing terms, either for his virtuous life or his reputation as a good canonist. I got to know him personally when I was called at the end of the 1950s to be part of the professorial body at the Faculty of Canon law. We were together in Rome at Sacro Cuore for a number of years and kept up a close and loyal friendship … His death will certainly cause his confreres and friends to feel the pain of separation, but we are all convinced that his figure, for so many exemplary reasons, will remain alive in the Congregation as will his works. He was a Salesian through and through: simple, humble, a great worker, full of love for the Church and the Congregation, who not only always gave an example of faithful observance but demonstrated his love for the Church and the Congregation by his apostolic and scientific works.”Cardinal Rosalío Castillo Lara, Caracas (Venezuela).‘‘I have a fraternal and grateful affection for Father Bruno He was there at my Episcopal Ordination and witnessed the presentation of the Bull of appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of this Archdiocese before the College of Consultors. He honoured me with his precious friendship and I still have very vivid memories of the long talks we had when I was staying with the Editorial community.

We should also note the gratitude we owe this distinguished and illustrious member of the Salesian Family, for his great contribution to the history of the Church in Argentina, developed through years of extensive research, along with a singular and simple piety. Fr Furlong sj., said he was “Don Bosco come to life again.”Cardinal Jorge M. Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

105

‘’In due course I asked Fr Cayetano to come to La Plata to give the novices some Salesian history. Despite his advanced age he accepted willingly and along with his wisdom the novices also had the testimony of his work and humility, which edified everyone."

Bishop Agustín Radrizzani, Bishop of Lomas de Zamora.‘‘I knew him in Villada where he was our professor of Canon Law and Liturgy. He was also Catechist there. Since then we kept up a warm friendship, which now leads me to fondly remember him and pray for his well-deserved eternal rest. One might or might not agree with him on many things, but one cannot deny his austerity of life, the tenacity of his work and fervent and contagious love for the Virgin Mary.”

Bishop José Pedro Pozzi, Bishop Emeritus of Alto Valle del Río Negro.‘‘Father Bruno was a much appreciated scholar of public law, history of the Salesian Congregation and of Argentine civil society. Father Cayetano Bruno prepared the new generations. He also lavished his wisdom and the riches of his heart on the accompaniment of religious, who still remember him and recognise his profound humanity and prudence.”

Fr Mario Toso, Rector Magnificus of the Salesian Pontifical University. [Now Bishop Toso]‘‘He was a much appreciated and consulted lecturer in the academic scene and Dean of the Canon Law Faculty on several occasions. He left an admirable testimony of Salesian priestly life and intellectual commitment: serious and dedicated to scientific work and teaching. Consistent in his religious life, delicate in fraternity.”

Fr Giuseppe Nicolussi, Superior of the Vice Province of the Salesian Pontifical University.“Father Bruno has left us not only his profound work on the History of the Church, to which he dedicated much of his life, but also his pastoral activity.”Dr. Guillermo Olivieri, Secretary for Religious Affairs.‘‘I think he was the first to encourage my vocation to the history of the Church, in his first words to me when I was a seminarian, around the 1980s. “Before everything else be a good priest …” Fr Bruno was a transparent soul, a man of intrinsic goodness, free from prejudice and professional jealousy. I saw him always ready to support any initiative that would benefit the Academy and do justice to the intellectual merits of others when it came to proposals for new academics. As a man of God he had the virtue of tolerance and generosity! "

Armando Raúl Bazán, Academia Nacional de Historia.Provincial CommunityLETTER OF BISHOP MARIO AURELIO POLI TO FR PROVINCIAL, JOSÉ

106

REPOVZTuesday, August 12, 2003Father ProvincialDear José Repovz,After some days of delay, I send these words as an expression of affection and closeness to the Salesian Family at the loss of our beloved and venerable old man, Fr CAYETANO BRUNO.While I have already recommended his soul at several Masses, I needed to express to you, as the Father of the family and to all who are part of it, my most sincere appreciation for the life, work, the priesthood and the wise old age whom God gave us in the person of his consecrated religious, Fr Cayetano.I am one of many who benefited from his advice, enthusiasm and scholarly knowledge of Church history in Argentina. But mostly, I remember his attentiveness to people, his Salesian kindness and his deeply religious person. I see as a treasure the interviews he gave me and the generous time of his warm and always guiding and rewarding conversation.I would like to see many young people follow in the footsteps of Fr Bruno, attracted to the authentic and exciting charism of Don Bosco, whom he loved and who gave meaning to the long and beautiful life of his servant.This bishop, an apprentice in the ministry of serving, and with affection for cultivating Church history, has lost his dearest teacher but at the same time won another friend in heaven. May the Lord comfort you with his example and the memory of his prolific literary and priestly work.I remember your lessons on Penance and Salesian pedagogy. An embrace, and my blessing on your service as Provincial that it may lead the Salesians to the sources of their mission and service in our beloved country.A strong embrace,+ Bishop Mario Aurelio Poli34

34 Mario Aurelio Poli (Buenos Aires, November 29, 1947), is currently the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He was appointed to this position by Pope Francis, whom he succeeded in this service. On February 22, 2014 he was made Cardinal by Pope Francis. When he wrote this letter he was Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, and Episcopal Vicar for Flores.

107

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS THAT PROVIDE A CONTEXT FOR POPE FRANCIS 35

35 Here are just a few of the events in Argentina, the world, the Church, culture that outline the characteristics of the change of that the 20th and 21st centuries have been.

108

109

1957 European Economic Community is created.1958 Jorge Mario enters the Jesuit Novitiate.1958 Doctor Arturo Frondizi becomes president.1959 Cuban Revolution.1959 John XXIII calls Vatican Council II.1961 Jorge Bergoglio goes to Chile for studies in humanities.1961 September 24, Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s father dies.1961 October 20, Fr Pozzoli, sdb dies.1962 Jorge Mario finishes his studies in Chile.1962 Vatican Council II opens.1962 Missile Crisis - US and USSR.1963 Doctor Arturo Illia becomes president of Argentina.1963 John XXIII dies in June.1963 Paul VI elected.1963 Jorge Mario Bergoglio gains his degree in Philosophy at the Philosophy Faculty at the San José de San Miguel College.1963 November 22, J.F. Kennedy assassinated.1965 Jorge Mario Bergoglio teaches Literature and Psychology at Immaculate Conception College, Santa Fe.1965 Vatican Council II ends.1966 Jorge Mario Bergoglio teaches at El Salvador College, Buenos Aires.1966 Dr. Illia is overthrown and the General Onganía dictatorship begins.1967/70 Jorge Mario Bergoglio studies theology at San José College.1968 Paris youth uprising, Spring.1968 Martin Luther King assassinated.1968 Birth of the Priests for the Third World Movement in Argentina.1968 Latin American Episcopal Assembly in Medellín August 26 and September 6.1969 21 - 26 April Bishops Conference of Argentina at San Miguel: Statement of Bishops translating the document from Medellin to the reality of the country.

110

1969 July 16, man lands on the Moon.1969 Outbreak in Córdoba of a social revolt called the “Cordobazo” that precipitated the fall of the General Onganía Government.1969 Jorge Mario Bergoglio ordained priest on 13 December by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano.1970 World Oil Crisis.1970/71 Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio does his second renewal period at Alcalá de Henares, Spain.1971 The de facto government of General Alejandro Agustín Lanusse starts.1973 April 22, Jorge Mario Bergoglio makes his Perpetual Profession.1973 Perón returns to the country.1973 On July 31 Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio elected Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina.1973 In Chile Salvador Allende is deposed on September 11. The dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet begins as also Operation Condor that seeks to apply the theory of national security in the Region, led by U.S. under the so-called Cold War.1973 September 23, Juan D. Perón takes up the presidency for the third time.1974 Fr Carlos Múgica is assassinated on May 11.1974 July 1, Juan Domingo Perón dies. He is succeeded by María Estela M. de Perón.1976 On March 24 the military coup and the president overthrown. Jorge Rafael Videla and the Commanders in Chief take charge. Thousands went missing for political reasons during the dictatorship.1976 Martyrdom of Bishop Enrique Angelelli Bishop of Rioja.1978 Paul VI dies. John Paul I elected but dies a few days later. John Paul II elected.1978 The World Cup is played in Argentina.1978 Border dispute with Chile, mediation of Cardinal Samore.1979 3rd Assembly of the Latin American Episcopal Conference in Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico.1979 End of Fr Jorge Bergoglio’s time as Jesuit Provincial in Argentina.1980 Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio begins his service as Rector of San José College and Parish Priest of San José parish in San Miguel diocese.

111

1980 Archbishop Romero is assassinated.1980 John Lennon assassinated, December 8.1981 First generation of cellphones. Selective usage.1981 Regina María Sívori de Bergoglio, the Pope’s mother, dies, August 1.1982 Falklands War. John Paul II visits Argentina.1983 Argentina comes back to democracy. Raúl Alfonsín necomes president on December 10.1984 First home computers in Argentina.1984 Publication of “Nunca más” (Never again), a book by the National Commission for Disappeared Persons (CONADEP).1986 Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio goes to Germany to finish his doctoral thesis.1986 Jorge Luis Borges dies, July 14.1986 Fr Mario Bergoglio is appoitned spiritual director and confessor in Córdoba.1989 Carlos Saúl Menen becomes president in July.1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall, end of the Cold War November 10.1990 Sixth generation of computers. Artificial intelligence is born.1990 Second generation of cellphones. Widespread diffusion begins.1990/91 Gulf War.1991 Birth of Mercosur - Mercado Común del Sur.1992 European Union comes into existence.1992 John Paul II appoints Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary in Buenos Aires, May 20. Ordained Bishop by Cardinal Antonio Quarracino on June 27.1992 4th CELAM Plenary Assembly in Santo Domingo.1993 Bishop Bergoglio becomes Vicar General of the Diocese.1997 Jorge Mario Bergoglio is appoined Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires.1998 On February 28, Jorge Mario Bergoglio succeeds Cardinal Quarracino as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.1999 Doctor Antonio De la Rúa becomes president of Argentina.1999 On October 9 the remains of Fr Carlos Mugica are moved from the cemetery in Recoleta to Villa 31, in Retiro, a ceremony presided over

112

Archbishop Bergoglio.2001 John Paul II makes him a Cardinal, with the title of Saint Robert Bellarmine.2001 The De la Rúa Government collapses and there is a serious institutional crisis.2003 Néstor Kirchner becomes president of the Republic.2003 Fr José Blanco, sdb dies.2003 Fr Cayetano Bruno dies.2005 John Paul II dies and Benedict XVI is elected.2005 Cardinal Bergoglio is elected President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference and is elected for three more years three years later.2007 He takes part in the Aparecida Conference as President of the Drafting Commission.2007 Dr Cristina Fernández becomes president of the nation.2008 UNASUR comes into being - Unión de Naciones Suramericanas.2010 Cardinal Bergoglio is a witness in the case involving the illegitimate appropriation of babies during the military dictatorship of 1976-1983.2010 Ex President Néstor Kirchner dies.2011 Cardinal Bergoglio ends his second term as president of the Episcopal Conference Argentina.2011 Cristina Fernández begins second term as President of the nation.2013 Benedict XVI resigns, February 10.2013 On March 13, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected Pope.2013 At the Mass on March 19 in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis receives the Pallium and fisherman’s ring and his Petrine ministry of begins.

113