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It was 2:15 pm when the priest’s phone Julio Lancellotti, Episcopal Vicar of the People of Rua de Saint Paul, rang. The number appeared to be an outside call. Lancellotti replied, thinking he was a foreign journalist. “Does the Italian language speak Spanish?” the caller asked. The priest replied that he spoke Italian. “I am the French Pope. “” Holiness! “Exclaimed the priest. For the first time, a Pope called a simple Brazilian priest to support his work and show solidarity with the homeless.
Pope Bergoglio’s call came the week the pontiff published one of the most important documents of his papacy, the encyclical Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), who, as Cardinal Don Odilo P. Scherer wrote in an article to the Status, represents the “Christian conviction that humanity, despite its differences, is a great family of brothers”. The gesture also marks the eve of the celebration of Nossa Senhora de Aparecida, patron saint of the country.
It is Lancellotti, a priest known for denouncing violence against adolescents and the homeless in the city of São Paulo, who told the Status the bottom of the call. The priest sent a letter to the Pope describing the work alongside the homeless and the difficulties he faced in their pastoral care. In fact, on September 18, the priest was targeted by mayoral candidate Artur do val, Mamãe Falei (Patriot). “What Father Lancellotti does is deplorable,” wrote the politician. He said he was going to unmask him and accused him of fraud. He was forced by the Electoral Tribunal to withdraw the position.
The case was not the first threat the priest faced for working in degraded areas of the city, such as Cracolândia, in the central region. “I sent photos of my work to the Pope. I really wanted to talk to Francisco, but it was very difficult for me, ”said the priest. He recalled that as a young man he had seen Pope John Paul II in Brazil from afar and was moved. Then he was about to touch Pope Benedict’s hand, but was stopped by a security guard. Therefore, he had never been able to speak to a Pope or even touch him. “It’s natural. The Church has its hierarchy,” he said.
After identifying himself with Lancellotti, the pontiff began to speak unhurriedly. He asked about the priest’s daily life. “I know of the difficulties you and the homeless are going through. I saw your photos and I ask you not to be discouraged and stay, like Jesus, next to the poorest. You have my love and I care. I pray for you and the homeless every day and I ask you to pray for me too. ”
The call lasted about five minutes: Francis has been mentioned in his pontificate because of the calls he makes from the Vatican without prior notice. After the conversation was over, the priest called d. Odilo Scherer (“To whom I owe obedience”) to inform the dialogue. “I hope that the Pope’s gesture awakens the conscience of the people, as well as his encyclical, which demonstrates the importance of caring for the weak and caring for the poor,” he concluded.
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