The Italian daily Il Cittadino has unearthed the story of Father Enrico Pozzoli, a Salesian missionary from the province of Lodi who baptized young Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who is today Pope Francis.<\/p>\n
The newspaper published an account of various episodes in the life of Bergoglio, including his baptism, which occurred on Christmas night at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians and Saint Carlos in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n
According to Il Cittadino, Father Pozzoli was a \u201cvery important figure and model of priestly life\u201d for Pope Francis, so much so that in 1982, the future Pontiff remembered him in the prologue for his \u201cMeditations for Religious\u201d as \u201can example of ecclesial service and religious consecration,\u201d underscoring \u201cthe great influence he had on his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a letter he wrote on October 20, 1990, to Salesian Father Cayetano Bruno, Pope Francis explained his relationship with the missionary priest: \u201cToday is the 29th anniversary of the death of Father Enrico Pozzoli, and I just celebrated Mass for the priest who baptized me on December 25, 1936.\u201d<\/p>\n
Father Pozzoli lived in Argentina from 1906 until his death in 1961.\u00a0 He was born in 1880 in Senna Lodigiana, an Italian town near the Po River. He left Italy as a young priest to work in South America.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would have never imagined that among the faithful entrusted to his care there would have been a future Pope as well and that his seed would have born such illustrious fruit. Not only did he bring forth the faith in the future Pope Francis, but he also accompanied him as he grew as a Christian and was his spiritual father until he reached the age of 17, when his priestly vocation blossomed,\u201d Il Cittadino reported.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fascinating detail from his early life: The Italian daily Il Cittadino has unearthed the story of Father Enrico Pozzoli, a Salesian missionary from the province of Lodi who baptized young Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who is today Pope Francis. The newspaper published an account of various episodes in the life of Bergoglio, including his baptism, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1413],"class_list":["post-24649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\n
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