An outstanding personality and love for Our Lady

It is with great joy that I present this testimony in gratitude to Pope Francis, with whom I have had the honor of maintaining a relationship since 2007. I had the grace of working alongside him at the Aparecida Conference, an experience that profoundly marked my life, especially because of his humility, depth of thought and ecclesial spirit. At the time, I never imagined that he would one day become Pope.

From the beginning, his personality and religious spirit impressed me, as did his love for Our Lady. In Aparecida, we had meaningful conversations about the importance of Mary’s presence in the final document of the Conference and how Mary’s example and intercession should permeate all dimensions of the Church’s life, especially in the life of the Latin American people, evangelized through the hands of Our Lady.

The Marian history of our American continent has deep roots. Evangelization took place in a Marian, Guadalupan way and, in South America, the presence of Mary accompanied the evangelizers, who brought the cross of Christ together with an image of Our Lady. Pope Francis bears the legacy of this tradition.

“She is my Mother”: Testimonies of the Pope’s Marian devotion

I would like to share some stories about the Pope’s relationship with Mary. I had the privilege of interviewing him on this subject, which resulted in the book “She is my Mother” (Pope Francis’ Encounters with Mary, 2014).

As a member of the Schoenstatt Movement, I always felt the link that the Pope drew between me and Our Lady. During World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro (2013), when I was his interpreter, he gave me Marian items as a gift. Realizing that I didn’t have a present for him, I remembered an image of the Pilgrim Mother that a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary had given me to have the Pope bless.

Looking at the image, I felt it was the perfect gift. When I gave it to him, he hugged it, kissed it and asked me to bless it, which surprised me. Then he said: “I often give away the gifts I receive, but this one I will keep” Since then, the image has accompanied him, at his bedside, on his bedside table.

In 2014, he shared with the Schoenstatt Family: “Some time ago, a Schoenstatt Father gave me an image of the Mother. And I have it on the table next to my bed. And every morning, when I get up, I touch it and pray. It’s a secret I wanted to share with you” He also emphasized the importance of Mary as our mother, leaving beautiful messages for the Schoenstatt Family: “We have no right to have an orphan mentality. That is to say, the Christian has no right ‘to feel like an orphan’. You have a Mother. We have a Mother. (…) She is a Mother not only because she gives us life, but also because she educates us in the faith. It is very different to seek and grow in the faith without the help of Mary. It is something else. It is like growing in faith, yes, but in a Church that feels like an orphanage. A Church without Mary is an orphanage. Above all, she educates us, helps us to grow, accompanies us, awakens our conscience. She knows how to stir our conscience to bring about repentance”.

Mary and the culture of encounter and covenant

Pope Francis highlights the importance of Mary as the one who helps us to live the culture of encounter and of the covenant, which is at the center of Schoenstatt spirituality. “The culture of encounter is the culture of the covenant. And that brings about solidarity. (…) It means creating bonds, not destroying bonds. And today, we are living in this culture, in this culture of the provisional, which is a culture which destroys bonds. (…)” So, a culture of encounter, which creates genuine unity, and it is the unity of holiness, do you understand? Which leads to the culture of encounter.

A Marian church: firmness, tenderness and mercy

The Pope’s vision of Our Lady is that of a mother who is always present in the midst of her people, a disciple and missionary of Jesus. For him, when we speak of Mary, we are also speaking of the Church.

In the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Francis teaches that everything we say about Mary should be applied to the Church and to every baptized person, quoting a text by Isaac of Stella.

A Church that should be a mother like Mary, firm, strong and tender, capable of living the revolution of tenderness. A missionary Church, with open doors, that welcomes, cares for and embraces all those in need, especially those who are on the peripheries of society. A Church like a field hospital, offering first aid, welcoming and caring.

Pope Francis wants a Church with Mary’s maternal care. His 12 years of pontificate have shown us this, with the declaration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and the synodal spirit, seeking that “everyone, everyone, everyone” be welcomed into the bosom of the Church, feeling at home, regardless of their moral history. The Church invites us to the fullness of the theological virtues and of the Gospel, where morality has a fundamental value, but the starting point is always openness, welcoming and listening.

The Pope hopes that we can turn the Church into a maternal Church, with the traits of Mary, a Marian Church.

Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, ISch
Currently, he is the superior general of the Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Fathers. Master’s in theology at the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology in Vallendar, Germany. Doctor in Mariology from the University of Dayton, USA. He was professor of Pastoral Theology and Systematic Theology at the Paulo VI Institute in Londrina (PR); at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Londrina; at UNISAL, of the Salesians; and at the São Bento Faculty of Philosophy and Theology. He collaborated with Cardinal Bergoglio during the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council held in Aparecida and accompanied the Pontiff on the occasion of the XXVIII World Youth Day, in 2013, in Rio de Janeiro. He was secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life and advisor to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Source: formacao.cancaonova.com

Translation: Maribel Acaron