Father Walter Gora to FACTS: Pope Francis wanted to be a man among men

Pope Francis has died. The Holy See announced the death of the head of the Roman Catholic Church in a video message to the faithful. His Eminence Cardinal Farrell announced the death of Pope Francis with sorrow on April 21 with the following words: “Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. The Bishop of Rome, Francis, has returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to serving the Lord and His Church.“ Eighty-eight-year-old Francis, whose birth name is Jorge Bergoglio, suffered from severe bilateral bronchopneumonia, for which he was admitted to the Roman hospital "Agostino Gemelli" on February 14 this year. What remains after Pope Francis… Catholic Father Walter Gora - parish priest of Ruse spoke to FAKTI.

- Father Gora, Pope Francis has left us, but how will you remember him? Was he different from the others…
- Look, every pope is different. This is important to say. And every pope is different, because every person is individual, everyone lives in different times, finds themselves in different situations. God simply sends us the person who can respond to these challenges that are around us. Pope Francis was different from others because he simply needed such a person as him.

- In the sense…
- The first thing Pope Francis wanted was to open the heart of every person, regardless of their situation. Pope Francis raised the issue of migrants, the hungry, the lonely, the poor, the sick, the suffering. He was very open.

- Yes, it is a fact that he communicated very well with people and the media?
- He did this not only with words, but also with his behavior. And above all with one thing - he wanted to be among people, he wanted to be a person among people. And as much as he could get closer to others, he did it.

- There are many comments about him today, but perhaps one of the most characteristic, which is repeated by many people, is that he was very smiling. And this is a fact, because in most of the photos that will remain after him, he really radiates a cheerful mood…
- And this is exactly what helped him a lot in close contact with people. It was one of his distinguishing features that Pope Francis was always smiling. But recently, the same was the case with Pope John Paul II, who was also quite ill in his last days, we saw that his body itself no longer gave him much opportunity to smile. But Pope Francis showed himself to be an extremely dignified person. Even in this situation, because we know that the last days were definitely difficult for him, but despite this, he continued to be among people. He wanted to be among people until his last minute. We can even say that because of this, he died because he wanted to be with people. According to the doctors, Pope Francis needed a long rest to recover from his stay in the hospital, but he simply could not stay away from people. The Pope wanted to be among people and on Sunday he showed it because he stood on the balcony of St. Peter's Square for more than an hour. This must have been tiring for him, but I wonder if a person like him could lock himself in a room just because he was sick and take care of himself. I wouldn't say that was possible for Pope Francis, because he constantly wanted to be among people. And from this point of view, he was absolutely like Pope John Paul II.

- One never knows when his last day will be, but in the fact that his death occurred during the Easter holidays, is there any symbolism…
- Look, let's go back to the fact that on Sunday during the liturgy he spoke precisely about the resurrection. After that word to meet death with this faith that you will rise… Yes, there may be something symbolic. It will again go back to Pope John Paul II, who also died during Holy Week - on Saturday, on Holy Saturday. Pope Francis left us on Holy Monday. And this may be something that unites these two popes.

- When Pope Francis was in Bulgaria, did you meet him?
- Yes, we met in Rakovski, where he led a mass with the participation of 250 children. He went through all the priests at the end of the mass and greeted us one by one. That's how I was able to meet him. I repeat, but it was very characteristic of Pope Francis that he wanted to be close to every person. If we go back a little in his speeches, we cannot help but be impressed that he lived in our time, he spoke against arms traffickers and constantly said that all this money, this expenditure on weapons, would be better spent on benefiting people in need. Pope Francis was able to go to prison and talk to prisoners, to talk to the sick in hospitals, to go among the poor and eat with them at the same table. He was a man who constantly empathized with the illnesses and suffering of every person.