Pope Francis discussed in a Jan. 30 audience with seminarians and formators from the ecclesiastical province of Valencia in Spain how his mother put up quite a bit of resistance to his entering the seminary.
The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, José Ignacio Munilla, posted on Facebook that during the meeting, in addition to his formal remarks, there was an exchange in which the Holy Father shared the experience in detail.
“The seminarians of the ecclesiastical province of Valencia were able to spend two whole hours with the pope, during which all those who wanted to freely asked him questions, to which he responded in a very charming way,” the bishop indicated.
Munilla explained that the Holy Father’s comments about his mother’s opposition to his beginning the path to the priesthood was in response to the question of a future priest who is currently experiencing a similar experience.
“One of the seminarians told the pope about his suffering because his mother has not accepted his decision to go to the seminary, because she had ‘dreamed’ of other paths for her son,” the bishop recounted.
He then said that after listening carefully to the concern of this young seminarian, Pope Francis shared with those present that he “also experienced that same situation.”
“His mother, although she was Catholic, opposed Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s vocation and did not want to visit him in the seminary. But, finally, on the day of his priestly ordination, she knelt before her son and asked for his blessing,” Munilla related.
He said the Holy Father’s advice for this young seminarian to calm his anguish was “prayer, tenderness, and patience!”
“What a great witness of spiritual fatherhood for the seminarians!” Munilla wrote.
This is not the first time the Holy Father has spoken about this experience. The then-cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires also referenced it in a book interview written together with journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti titled “Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio: His Life in His Own Words” in the 2014 English edition.
“First I told my father, and he thought it was great. What’s more, he felt happy. Then he told my mom, who, like a good mother, had begun to have a feeling about it,” the pontiff explained.
Using an affectionate Argentine expression, Bergoglio commented “‘la vieja’ [the dear old lady] got very angry.”
“When I entered the seminary, my mother didn’t come with me, she didn’t want to go. For years she didn’t accept my decision. We weren’t fighting. It was just that I would come home [for a visit], but she wouldn’t go to the seminary,” Pope Francis told the seminarians.
55 years of priesthood
Last Dec. 13 was the 55th anniversary of Pope Francis’ priestly ordination. On that day in 1969, just before his 33rd birthday, Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a priest by Archbishop Emeritus of Córdoba, Argentina, Ramón José Castellano.
According to the above-referenced book, initially titled in Spanish “The Jesuit: Conversations with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio” and published in 2004 before he became pope, Francis found his vocation to the priesthood while he was on his way to celebrate Spring Day. When he stopped by a church to go to confession, he left the confessional inspired by that priest.
From 1970–1971, Bergoglio continued his formation as a Jesuit in Spain. On April 22, 1973, he made his final vows in the Society of Jesus. When he returned to Argentina, he served as a professor in the San José department of theology in the town of San Miguel (on the outskirts of the city of Buenos Aires) and rector of the college. At the age of 36, he was appointed Jesuit provincial of Argentina.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
