The book is a biography of Fr Enrico Pozzoli, the Salesian missionary who baptised Jorge Mario Bergoglio and who followed his progress in the early years of his Christian journey. Recalling his educator, Pope Francis has often described Fr Pozzoli, originally from Lodi, as “a great apostle” and “an apostle of the confessional”. In recent months Pope Francis had come to know of the plan for a book about Fr Pozzoli and called the author, Ferruccio Pallavera, offering his own thus far unpublished testimony, which is included in the book, regarding the human and spiritual figure of this Salesian from Lodi who spent some 58 years in Argentina, where he was a point of reference for the thousands of Italian migrants who had come to Argentina in search of a better future: among them, Bergoglio’s ancestors.
The presentation began with a welcome from the Rector of the University, Fr Leonardo Sileo OFM, who said he was very happy and grateful to be hosting the presentation, and thanked the director of the Vatican Publishing House, journalist Lorenzo Fazzini, who was making the presentation.
Cardinale Tagle then spoke, quoting Pope Francis’ own words and linking his teaching with the figure of the Salesian missionary. “…The action of serving others says of us that we are children of God the Father, who placed himself at our service through the Incarnation of his Son, in solidarity with us, even unto death. Fr Pozzoli was another good father, because he was close to many Italian immigrants who arrived in Buenos Aires, and he not only took care of the spiritual aspect but also of concrete assistance, as he did with the Bergoglio family who were experiencing a period of economic difficulty. This is the 'good shepherd', although we would also say, more generically, the 'authentic believer'.”
The Cardinal recalled the long hours of hearing confessions that Fr Pozzoli offered to Salesians, diocesan clergy, the faithful and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, an important part of the great Salesian Family, the Cardinal added, greeting Sr Yvonne, former Mother General,[jbf1] and the 3 Sisters who accompanied her.
He also recalled the time when the young Bergoglio spoke to Fr Pozzoli of his desire to become a Jesuit. The elderly missionary always respected his decision: "he was not the kind of priest to go about proselytising", he said, quoting Bergoglio. “…This proselytism, employing strategies to box people in, depriving them of their freedom. To the contrary, Fr Enrico left young Jorge Mario free to make his decision to become a Jesuit instead of urging him to embrace Don Bosco’s charism.” Then, turning to the Rector Major who was also present, he said: “Dear Fr Ángel, perhaps you had one Salesian less, but the Church had gained a man of God who was truly free.” He then said, fondly, “But who knows, perhaps he was a hidden Salesian…”
Following Cardinal Tagle, the Italian Minister for Defence, Lorenzo Guerini, spoke. He described the beautiful City of Lodi in a simple and colourful way as a meeting and transit point for so many pilgrims in the Middle Ages who were crossing the Alps, heading for St Peters and then, via Puglia, for the Holy land, but who stopped over there during their journey. "I like to imagine young Enrico Pozzoli contemplating the pilgrims on their journey, and then being fascinated by the idea of making a long journey, becoming a pilgrim, and then receiving the call to be a missionary in distant lands”, he said, among other thoughts.
The Salesian Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, continued the presentation of the book with a very significant address, since history links him to Argentina, Fr Pozzoli's mission field and Pope Francis’s homeland. It was there that he served as the first Provincial of the newly established Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá Province of Southern Argentina. “I read the entire book at home with particular enthusiasm because reading about places it mentions there, as I knew them, was like returning to my years as Provincial. For example, the Pius IX school where Fr Enrico was teacher and assistant, is the same one where Carlos Gardel and his best friend Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá were. Namuncurá was the Mapuche whose voice was even clearer, more transparent than Carlos Gardel’s, according to witnesses from those years.”
Recalling Fr Pozzoli the Rector Major spoke in a heartfelt way precisely because it was there in Argentina, Fr Pozzoli’s place of mission and Pope Francis’ homeland, that he had played a particular role among the young, encouraging and accompanying the faith in the Basilica of “María Auxiliadora de Almagro”, very dear to the people. Among other things he said: “This Basilica is mentioned in the book. It is one of the most beautiful churches in all of Argentina, and was built with the collaboration of many of the faithful, among whom the Bergoglio family.” “We find the time when Fr Enrico was there in this Basilica, the Salesian priest who was a friend to the people, visited the families, and, in the case of the Bergoglio’s became the family’s priest.”
Fr Enrico, a missionary, was one of the many missionary vocations from Lodi, both for the Salesians and for the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. “But his missionary vocation”, the Rector Major recalled, “was not marked by the grand gestures of other unforgettable missionaries. He took care to carry out one of Don Bosco’s recommendations: look after Italian immigrants”. He also recalled that there is an estimated total of 12,700 Salesian missionary vocations.
The book’s author, bringing the event to a close, thanked those present for their involvement and spoke of the admiration aroused in Lodi, once Francis had been elected, when Argentine journalists asked him for information regarding a certain Enrico Pozzoli, a Salesian missionary priest. It was only then, researching this famous son of Lodi, that journalists came to understand the great esteem that Pope Francis had for him.
