The Pope's Ladies

Pope Francis once said of his grandmother, Rosa: “I ​​received my first Christian witness from this woman: my grandma! It’s a beautiful thing to receive this first in the home, with the family” (Vigil of Pentecost, 18, May 2013). Every word he said about his grandmother unleashed a smile, and in his eyes I read the profile of this extraordinary woman, to whom Jorge Mario Bergoglio owes his very vocation.

“This makes me think,” he said, “of the love of many mothers and grandmothers in transmitting the faith. This was true even in the early days, as seen when St. Paul said to Timothy: ‘I remember the faith of your mother and your grandmother.’ All mothers who are here, all grandmothers – think about this! Think about handing on the faith.” Once, he was asked how an all-male society would fare. “Austere, hard, and devoid of sanctity,” he said (Jorge Mario Bergoglio and Abraham Skorka, On Heaven and Earth): not really a commendable response for the boys.