Pablo Narvaja-Bergoglio, Pope Francis’ nephew: “I learned from him that we didn’t have to use his name for personal benefit”

«He donated himself, he did not spare himself, he wanted to convey the message of Jesus to the last. And so he did ». Pablo Narvaja-Begreglio He is one of the grandchildren of Pope Francis and has participated with other family members at the pontiff’s funeral. “The whole family prayed for his health, one always hopes in a year of life more … and instead the very sad news arrived on Monday,” he told Republic The 61 -year -old director of the Research Center in Education at the University of Moreno and researcher at the University of Las Missiones.

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As soon as we received the news we bought the plane tickets. Not all relatives had the money to come. A cousin was in Central America, one in Brazil, my daughter in New York, one in Madrid, and then the relatives from Bergamo, from Turin, from Piedmont. At the beginning we knew nothing about how the celebrations would take place, we met here in Rome for the funeral of the uncle ». For Narvaja the great popular participation. It was “people’s response to a pope who made everyone open the doors of the Church, thanks”.

«For us this dedication has always been an example. Cardinal Parolin said that now his message must be brought to life. We too ask ourselves the question about how to make sure that the message of the uncle, of the Church, are not only words but gestures, concrete actions, “he said.

His story about Bergoglio is private and personal starting from the shoes with which he was buried. «I remember when he didn’t want to put his red shoes! But if one looks at the last popes, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, have all been more austere than in the past. Francesco is one of them, perhaps more accentuated. The shoes for me are a symbol of austerity, a man who walking on the streets made the church close to the most humble people».

«I learned from him that we didn’t have to use his name for personal benefit. Already when he was Jesuit in the company he warned us: do not say that you are my grandchildren, behave well. He was a man of Godand when, in discernment, he understood what the will of God was in his life, the way to take, went on that road with decision. He did not want all the symbols of power, neither here in the Vatican nor in Buenos Aires. When my son came to baptize, “I come and get you”, I told him, “No, no, I come by train”. He did not want privileges, many move away from people, he wanted to stay close to simple people ».

According to the nephew he leaves a legacy of normal. “That we must organize the company so that everyone has their own place. Love for others, which is an individual and social fact. We are not judges of the other, but brothers: everyone has his life, he had his own paths, who am I to judge the other? The judgment is of God, not ours, judging others is taking the place of God ».

Source: Vanity Fair

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