Federico Lombardi: "Let Francisco and his wisdom evaluate a trip to Argentina"

Father Federico LombardiNorthern Italy, born in Piedmont, was responsible for the press and communication space of the Holy See for three popes, John Paul II, Benedict XIV and the early years of Francis. Despite his departure from his official functions, he remains linked to religious communication and many other tasks related to the Catholic Church, including his recent participation in February as moderator of the summit "anti-pedophilia" organized by Francisco Il held in Rome and chaired the board of the Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation.

A little affection to speak about yourself, the word that will repeat the most in our exchange will be "service". He is a sober, ascetic and simple Jesuit. A gentleman of the 21st century. With convincing expressions both theological and pastoral, he has responded to the vast journalistic demands of Infobae with generosity in time and richness of content.

-March 2013. What did you know about Argentina and Cardinal Bergoglio at the time of his election to the pope? Had they shared moments as Jesuits?
-I must tell the truth: I have never been to Argentina. Naturally, as an Italian, I had often heard of Argentina because there were a lot of Italians. One of my aunts was born in Buenos Aires, another was a missionary nun in Argentina … We read many stories of very young Italian emigrants. In a book that all the Italian children of my time read at school and titled "Corazón" by Edmundo De Amicis, there was an unforgettable story entitled "From the Apennines to the Andes" about. a boy who was going to fetch his mother He had emigrated to Argentina. Then we heard about Perón, Evita, the military regime and the Malvinas war, the economic crisis … but I had no direct knowledge. Still with regard to Father Bergoglio, I must admit that he had no real knowledge. The only event we both attended was the "33rd General Congregation", that is, the badembly of Jesuit representatives from around the world who accepted in 1983 the resignation of Father Arrupe, who was sick and the new general, the father, was elected. Kolvenbach. We were around 200 and we had been together for more than a month. Bergoglio was one of the representatives of Argentina and I of Italy. I remember an intervention of Father Bergoglio, but I had no dialogue or personal encounter with him. Later, he became a bishop and, therefore, did not participate in the international life of the Jesuits and I did not have the opportunity to find him. Even when I was called to work in the Vatican, after 1990, I had no chance to meet him in Rome either. Moreover, as we know, he was not a great traveler and did not like to show himself. Therefore, apart from a brief meeting during the Congregation of Cardinals in preparation for the Conclave, I actually met him when he became Pope. The first time I saw it as Pope, it was early morning, the day after the elections, in front of the image of the Virgin in Santa María Mayor, where I was went to pray.

Father Federico, we know very little about his personal life. How was your childhood, your family, how was your religious vocation born? Was the Jesuit always his choice?
-I was born in the Piedmont region, in northern Italy, the same one that came from the family of Pope Francis. I also come from a family of ancient Catholic tradition. In fact, my father's family had many members who were publicly engaged as Catholics in the areas of family, business, politics, education, and one of my brothers. The father was a famous Jesuit preacher, Father Riccardo Lombardi, who also successfully preached in Buenos Aires and Argentina about 50 years ago … I had a very good youth, I had attended the scouts of the parish, the Salesian oratory and the Jesuit school. I really loved mountaineering in the Piedmont mountains, I made long bike trips in Europe with my scout companions: I went to Paris, Barcelona, ​​Oslo, Norway by bike. when I was 15 years old … With the scouts, we also went to the service of the sick in Lourdes and Loreto … In this context, the religious vocation was born almost spontaneously for the love of God and the service of the sick. Although I had many Salesian friends in the world of Scouting, I came spontaneously to ask to enter with the Jesuits, who were my educators in school and in my cultural and spiritual formation. . For this reason, at age 18, I joined the Society of Jesus. Then I did the normal formation of young Jesuits: novitiate, philosophy, theology, priestly ordination. Between philosophy and theology, the superiors have had me study mathematics. He had great facility in scientific studies and could have taught in schools or studied philosophy of science. But while I was in theology with the Jesuits in Frankfurt (where Father Bergoglio was later for a while), I conducted a lot of pastoral activities with the Italian emigrants and I went to work there. I have also written articles on this subject. The emigrants were my "first love" priestly at the time I was ordained and I never forgot it. But this question also had another consequence: the articles I wrote about the emigrants were appreciated by the editors of La Civiltà Cattolica and, therefore, when I finished the theology, they asked the Senior people from me to work for their magazine in Rome I stayed there for 12 years, then I was appointed Provincial of the Italian Jesuits (there were 1,200!). After 6 years as Superior, in 1990, I was sent to Radio Vaticana as Program Director. Since then, I spent 26 years in communication at the Vatican with different tasks. As you can see, mathematics has been a distant memory … or maybe it helped me to try to express it clearly … who knows. In any case, it was more important to try to do what the Lord asked me to do.

– In the world of Church communication, you represent for many the model to be repeated as spokesperson and leader of the ecclesial institutional press team. Share, please, some tips that you consider really important for those working in the field of communication.
-I was called to work in communication, not because it was my personal desire or my pbadion, but to render a useful service. It was a "calling", not in the sense of a choice corresponding to my abilities or my pbadions, but in the sense of being called by the superiors and the Lord to be of service. For me, it was to serve the mission of the Church, the gospel and charity in the world, and more specifically to serve the pope and help him in his service to the Church and the Church. 'humanity. The pope, the priest, the Christian must be a communicator of the Gospel with his words and actions. I feel like a communicator, not because I am a good communication professional, but mostly because I have to communicate the gospel of Jesus of all my life and that I have the pbadion to do it . If I prove to be a good professional, it will also be useful, but if I do not have the pbadion to communicate the gospel, professionalism is not enough. The popes with whom I collaborated communicated with different styles, but always with efficiency, because they were great believers, witnesses of the faith and were therefore credible when they communicated. People are sometimes enchanted by communication experts, but in the end, they understand whether they are credible or not, whether they say things in which they believe or not, real things or not. This applies to popes and leaders, but also to us, middle-level communicators, and this is especially true in the Church. If we believe in what we communicate, we can expect to be believed too. If we do not believe it, beautiful words or the most modern technologies will not suffice.

– In a list of human values ​​that are exercised when communicating the news, how would you order them? What are the most needed and why?
– In recent years, when young communicators or communication students ask me to talk to them, I usually say this: I do not speak about new technologies or new communication languages, they know more than me and they will see so many changes because What will be in 10 years will be very different from what is happening today. So, I'm telling you a few things that I think will serve you even tomorrow, which for me are the most important. Try to always use the word and the communication to unite and not divide, to make peace and not for war, to grow together in dialogue. Always try to tell the truth and not the lie for your own sake or that of others; and if you do not see the truth clearly, look for it with humility, listen to others as well. To seek to give good news, to learn to see that in the world not only evil works but also good, although it is often more hidden. Try to show the beauty, the beauty of virtue, heroism, purity, holiness, because our eyes and our mouth are too full of vulgarity, badgraphy and disrespect for human dignity. Jesus said, "If your eye is lighted, there will be light throughout your body." You have to look up. Unity, truth, goodness, beauty are values ​​that last and contain all others. This must nourish the spirituality of the communicators. The great Christian philosophers have said that these values ​​find their perfection in God.

– I want to ask you to talk about moments that have marked you, anecdotes, surprises, good surprises and others, during your travels.
– I did about 25 international trips with John Paul II. In 1991, I was doing one of them, alternating with another director of Vatican Radio. Then, when I became director of the press room, I did almost all 24 international trips – then the first 15 of Francisco. So in total more than 60, not counting some trips to Italian cities. Naturally, these are extraordinary experiences. In our time, since air travel security exists, pope trips have become an essential form for the animation of the Church in the world. Among the reasons why Benedict XVI has just resigned, there is no doubt that he can no longer travel. I was impressed by the courage with which the popes had to cope with traveling even in very difficult and risky situations. I think of Benedict in Lebanon surrounded by conflict, Francis in the dangerous Muslim neighborhoods of the periphery of Bangui in Central Africa … But they have always done well to have courage, we can say that the Providence of God has always accompanied them and that is why they have messages of charity, peace and effective dialogue.
The most intense spiritual journeys have probably been those of the Holy Land, the land of Jesus. The first international journey of Paul VI was in the Holy Land and his three successor travelers went there. They could not go. The World Youth Days were also unforgettable, with the enthusiasm of the young people who involved the elderly pontiffs in contagious joy. An episode I can not forget was on the eve of Madrid's time [Jornada Mundial de la Juventud 2011]when a strong storm of wind and rain hit the pope and the millions of young people or more who were on the esplanade with him. It was really scary, the sound and light systems jumped and burned. But the pope and the young people resisted with patience and confidence, the storm pbaded and there was absolute silence and peace in which the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament began, with intense meditation and prayer night. For me, this episode remains a symbol of the transition from agitation to peace in union with God. Storms in the life of the Church, which are overcome by the presence of the Lord. It is an experience that each of us and the whole Church must learn to make in his life.

– By train imagine, would you like to accompany a possible trip from Francisco to Argentina?
-Of course, he would be very happy. The trip of a pope to his country is extraordinary. In particular, John Paul II's travels to Poland were an unforgettable historical event and had a great spiritual, social and, as we know, political impact. But each pope is unique and each country is different. During these years, we learned that Pope Francis, although certainly wishing it, considered that it was better to postpone the trip to Argentina. Let him, and his wisdom, evaluate whether there are conditions for this trip to be made and fruitful. My knowledge of Argentina is too limited to be able to give my opinion and imagine what this trip would mean for your country.

-How did you resign your personal and professional life when, in 2016, you left your communication service to the Holy See with all its implications and responsibilities? The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation presided over it. What is your job there?
-After leaving the communication service of the Holy See, after the World Youth Day in Krakow in late July 2016, Pope Francis told me that he wanted me to take the presidency of the Foundation Ratzinger. I was very surprised because it was a cultural activity in which theology was of great importance and my work was very different for a long time. However, I very much like the eminent Pope, whom I served with all my heart, and that is why I tried to understand what I needed and could do. The Foundation has some main activities: it awards the Ratzinger Prize each year to two personalities with great authority in the theological field of Christian-inspired arts; organizes international conferences in collaboration with Catholic universities; awards scholarships to doctoral students in theology or related sciences; promotes publications, studies on the dialogue between science and faith, etc. I have tried to promote agreements and studies on important arguments, such as the responsibility of our "common home", always showing how Benedict's teaching continues and develops in that of Francisco. For example, we organized a congress in Costa Rica, attended by many Catholic universities in Latin America on the encyclical "Laudato Si"; (The minutes are published in full in Spanish by the BAC, Library of Christian Authors). But the Ratzinger Foundation is a very small institution and I can also devote myself to other commitments.

-Finally, could I define with a few words-concepts each pope with whom he had to share tasks, eras, failures, words, silences, thank you: John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francisco?
-John Paul II remains for me not only a great witness of faith, but also an extraordinary "teacher of the people". Witness of the personal faith: when he knelt in front of the Blessed Sacrament to pray, his head in his hands, even during brief visits to the churches during trips with very intense programs, he Is truly felt "immersed in God". I was not in a hurry because the most important thing was to be united to God. Master of the Peoples: When he spoke with multiple crowds – hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of people – when traveling to eastern countries liberated from communism, he managed to speak to them with authority unique and very high, indicating to entire peoples their historical vocation. , whatever their dignity and the contribution they have to give to the path of the great family of the peoples of the world. I have never heard anyone speak with such authority to entire peoples.
Benedict remains for me as a man who has expressed in a marvelous synthesis the harmony of faith and reason, the beauty and depth of human culture animated by spirituality. And then, the man who was the first to face with humility, truth and foresight the challenge that the plague of abuse posed to the Church.
Francis is for me the effective announcer of the mercy of God with the closeness of all, starting with the poorest. This is the most important thing the church has to do, the reason it exists. All the popes knew it and said it, but Francisco seems to me that he has managed to make it understood to many people, both inside and outside the church. And I thank you immensely.

* Translation of Father Guillermo Ortiz SJ