Porto, 22/02/2025. I quickly passed a supermarket to buy something that was missing me. In the box line, a lady asked me, “How is Pope Francis?” The question caught me off guard. At that moment, I was focused on thinking if I had forgotten something I should buy, I thought about the people I would find soon and a telephone call that should make a friend on his birthday.
And suddenly that lady asked me for the Pope. And he continued, “What can I do for the Pope?” This second question was even more compromising. What can be done by the Pope in a supermarket line in Porto? I told him that the Pope is a close person and that we can pray for him. But she replied, “I am not a believer. How can I pray?
That third question made me thoughtful, while my interlocutor put the products on the box rug. For a moment, I went with my head to Rome. With a quick intuition, I said, “Perhaps you can pray,” God, if you exist, take care of Pope Francis. “
We will say goodbye kindly. And I was thinking, how is it possible that, in the middle of a supermarket, a non -believing person helps a priest to pray for the Pope?
We have been following the state of health of Pope Francis, the clinical bulletins, the live broadcasts. We resorted to Dr. Google and ChatgPT to better understand what a polymicrobial infection or plaquetopenia means. Pope Francis is a very special patient: I do not know another patient who thus exposes his vulnerabilities.
At 88, another patient would ask for rest and privacy. The Pope doesn’t want to, can’t. From the 10th floor of the Gemelli Hospital, he called Gaza, seeking to know how the Catholic community is in that place. From that room came a lament for the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine. And at the same time, he knows how to thank: “These days, I received many messages of affection and was particularly touched by the children’s letters and drawings. Thank you for this proximity and the prayers of comfort I received from the whole world! I all trust Mary’s intercession and I ask you to pray for me. ”
In his recent autobiography, Francisco revealed how he would like to face the last moments of life:
“When I die, I will not be buried in St. Peter, but [na Basílica de] Santa Maria Maior: The Vatican is the house of my last service, not of eternity. (…) I will be close to that Queen of Peace whom I always asked for help. (…) Although knowing that he has already granted me many, I only asked the Lord yet another grace: take care of me, when you want, but, as you know, I am very afraid of physical pain… so, please don’t let that hurt me a lot. ”
The Pope may not be among us much longer. I trust that God will continue to guide His church after Francis’ death. But my concern for him is personal. As by a dear family member whose wisdom and presence, I hope deeply, I will recover and that he can return to his family – the Universal Church – once again.
Francisco is a leader. It was the man of the year of Time magazine. As soon as he was elected, he prayed for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Made 67 apostolic trips. He came to Portugal 2 times, without ever visiting his own country or neighboring Spain. He was the leader of a state without armed forces. He got up every day at 4:30 am to pray, for he knew that being before God is to count on the most powerful armed force. He invited the homeless of Rome to celebrate his birthday. He let himself be photographed as he confessed publicly and asked us not to be afraid of confession and our sins. He summoned the Jubilee of Mercy and Hope. He wrote texts that helped us pray and think. It was the one to whom, one day, I asked, “Can I give you a hug?” “And that, with a father’s smile,” give me two hugs. “
Francisco has been many things. We miss you. These days they served to demonstrate that when the Pope is sick, it seems that the world also gets sick.
***
I did not ask the name of the lady I found in the supermarket. I would like to thank you for that brief conversation, especially the fact that I helped me pray for the Pope. I wrote these lines thinking about it and so many other people who have their feet in Portugal, but the heart and soul before the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
What can we do now? We can embrace two challenges.
On the one hand, to revisit the legacy of Francis, his gestures, the texts that left us, his key ideas, how much he wrote. Even if we have no faith, your language, your appeals, your reflection are universal.
And we can touch, like the Pope, the strength of prayer. The most important thing we can do for Francisco – and any Pope – is what he has always asked us: “pray for me.” Even if it is with the prayer of non -believers: “God, if you exist, take care of Pope Francis.” And for believers we pray a father:
Our Father that you are in the heavens,
sanctified be your name,
Come to us your kingdom,
Your will
so on earth as in heaven.
Our daily bread gives us today,
Forgive us our offenses
Just as we forgive
who has offended us,
And don’t let us fall into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
