1 week Ago By People
A woman he knew Pope Francis when he was a young priest is recalling her memories of the late pontiff. Ana Maria Belmonte first met Francis as Father Jorge Bergoglio when he was working with the Jesuits in San Miguel, Argentina, during the 1970s “The Jesuit fathers assisted the religious schools which at that time were only for women, and so they assisted us, so I had a very close relationship with the world of the Jesuit priests and [Jesuit religious college] Colegio Máximo, which I frequently attended,” Belmonte, 79, tells PEOPLE. "And certainly when Juan Pablo, the oldest of my children, was about 5 or 6 years at most, he would slip away from me during mass and go tiptoeing to blow out the candles on the altar, sometimes also during Father Jorge Bergoglio's mass — the pope's mass,” she says, referring to Francis.
Pope Francis was ordained a priest in December 1969. He joined the Jesuits as a priest and religious professor in his final profession in his home country of Argentina in April 1973, according to his biography on the Vatican’s website . “Who would have thought he would become pope?" Belmonte remarks.
“At that moment, no one imagined he would become pope." Belmonte shares that Francis “kept a very low profile” as a young man — a world away from the public life he would later lead as the head of the Catholic Church "Later he became the director of the Colegio Máximo, director of the Society of Jesus. During that time of his youth and his early years, he was serious, always kept a low profile.
He was a very serious person,” she tells PEOPLE. "..
.He would never accept being driven in a car, nor being waited on. If he used something — a cup, a plate, whatever it was — he would wash it himself.
He was a person who wanted to be self-sufficient and didn't want to rely on anyone." When Francis was appointed the pontiff in 2013, Belmonte recalls seeing a completely different side to him than before. “His character changed,” she says.
“He became much more affable, smiling, pleasant. We call this 'grace of state.' That is, the papal state gave him the grace to be even more united to the people, over and above his low profile, a warm person.
" Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Francis died on Monday, April 21 , from a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse. The pontiff was also affected by a "previous episode of acute respiratory failure in bilateral multimicrobial pneumonia, multiple bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension, and type II diabetes," the church said.
His funeral took place in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Saturday, April 26. In his life before and after becoming pope, Francis remained in support of the people, Belmonte shares.
"He was truly close to the people,” she says, adding that "he was a brilliant and capable person.” “I never imagined he would become the pope. But now I think about all those merits, at the archbishop level, the cardinals knew all about them and that's why they named him pope.
The cardinals knew who he was,” she adds. Read the original article on People.
