Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Bergoglio's words to Fr. Pepe: "I would rather they kill me than any of you”

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/typo3temp/pics/f43f67ad7f.jpg“I would rather they kill me that any of you…” was Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s response to the news about the death threats received by Fr. José Maria di Paola.

Fr. Pepe, as he is known in Argentina, is a parish priest in one of the  villas miserias, Buenos Aires’ slums. 

On Sunday, Fr. Pepe described the story behind the above remark at a public meeting in Nepi, a town in the Italian region of Lazio. 

“These words are a perfect illustration of the bishop’s close, paternal relationship with his priests,” the Argentinean priest told Vatican Insider just hours before he was due to depart for Argentina, where he will return to the poor in the villas.

The first threats against the parish priest of Our Lady of Cacupé in villa 21-14 in Buenos Aires’ Barracas neighbourhood were made in the spring of 2009. 

Fr. Pepe and the other priests Bergoglio had sent to the villas miserias, was helping young drug addicts kick the habit. 

 When more serious threats arrived from drug dealers in December 2010, the future Pope decided to move Fr. Pepe to another diocese north of the country. Now the priest ministers in another villa, continuing his work in the slums.

Speaking about his cura villero (priests who work in Buenos Aires’ slums), Bergoglio said: ”They work. They don’t attack anyone. It was me who said that drugs, not just in the favelas but across the entire city, are dangerous … I told parents: keep an eye on your children, look after them, because drugs are everywhere, even at the school gates. They, the priests in the villas, also work to prevent drug addiction and help reintegrate drug addicts back into society… A month ago, they drafted a constructive proposal regarding the tremendous growth in drug trafficking. Villa 21 recently opened three rehab centres for young drug addicts. Drug traffickers clearly didn’t like this. It must have irritated someone.”

Fr. Pepe has now revealed some of the comments that were made in a previous discussion with the former archbishop. “They threatened me Monday, on Tuesday I went to Bergoglio. I told his the threat was serious. The very first thing he said was: I would rather they kill me that any of you…”

During his two-week stay in Italy, Fr. Pepe has held many meetings in which he has described the work of the curas villeros. 

The rubbish dump-turned-residential area where he ministers as a parish priest, really has nothing. 

Fr. Pepe is trying to have some kind of structure built to help get young people off the streets and away from drugs.