贫民窟的神父 - 教宗方济各的早年经历
（作者Haley Cohen – “经济学人” 驻阿根廷和乌拉圭的记者。发表于2013)
2013年3月14日在布宜诺斯艾利斯的Barracas居民区，贫民窟Villa21-24的居民漫步路过Caacupe圣母教堂, 阿根廷枢机主教Jorge Mario Bergoglio（现在的教宗方济各）过去在这儿主持弥撒.
对于神父古斯塔夫·卡拉拉（Gustavo Carrara）来说，一天的工作可能意味着要找一个人陪同一名怀孕的吸毒者去医院，为无家可归的孤儿寻找住处，或者安慰一名丈夫在一场由毒瘾引发的枪战中丧生的妇女。卡拉拉负责的圣玛丽教区位于布宜诺斯艾利斯最大和最危险的贫民窟之一的1-11-14Villa。他当时被还是布宜诺斯艾利斯大主教的教宗方济各亲自招募到那里服务。
“当时是Padre Bergoglio来找我，因为我在其他地方当过执事，他要求我在其中一Villa作神父。”Carrara解释道。他知道这个工作不容易。远离布宜诺斯艾利斯的如明信片般美丽的林荫大道，撩人的探戈和法式建筑，这个城市的贫民窟或Villa是如此糟糕，甚至救护车和警察拒绝进入。卡拉拉还是说：“我毫不犹豫”。
现任教宗方济自1998年担任布宜诺斯艾利斯总主教职位以来，一直致力于恢复和巩固天主教在Villa中的活动。他把这个任务从10人增加到20多位，安排神父每两人或数人结成小组， 展开工作，并且每两个月召开一次会议，以培养神父们的归属感。Padre Bergoglio 教宗自己常常深入到城里的各种Villa贫民窟，跟街上的人谈话，和教会的人一起喝茶，坐在教堂的后面看着神父主持弥撒。他帮助Villa中的某些项目寻找资金，并经常与Villa神父打电话，帮助他们解决教区的问题，有时还解决他们的个人生活问题。
32岁的Juan Isasmendi神父，在21-24号Villa工作的四位牧师之一说：“他总是非常平易近人，你可以打电话给他的手机，有时谈上10分钟，有时20分钟，有时2小时，有时只是聊天和开玩笑，他有很好的幽默感。”
虽然大多数Villa神父都怀疑他们的大主教会当选，但Isasmendi声称他有一个直觉。当然他补充说：“即使我感觉到会发生，我仍然不敢相信。”
教宗方济各的当选，是对Villa的神父们工作的有力支持和肯定，他们的工作耗费了他们几乎全部的时间。大多数贫民窟Villa神父每周工作7天，早起祷告，然后照顾他们的教区居民的需要，有时工作到午夜或以后。像普通教区的司铎一样，他们听取忏悔，发放圣餐，洗礼儿童和主持葬礼。但是他们工作的独特环境也带来了独特的挑战。他们的许多教友都失业，饥饿，依靠教堂的厨房来生存。少女怀孕是猖獗的。Paco泛滥, Paco是一种便宜的，高度上瘾的，可吸食的可卡因副产品，它在Villa迅速蔓延，引诱了居民，并使暴力犯罪上升。对此，许多神父与他们的教区一起建立康复中心，他们经常绕着他们的街区寻找可能的瘾君子。
这项工作不是没有危险的。 2009年，在发表谴责Paco在Villa中传播的文件之后，Isasmendi附近的一个神父收到了死亡威胁。Isasmendi回想起教宗方济各帮助Villa教区度过这段困难时期。 没有通知，他突然出现，绕着整个Villa里慢慢地走过来，仿佛在说，如果你伤害他们，你就伤害我，他甚至表示愿意在教区过夜，但我们向他保证没有必要
虽然教宗方济各的升迁意味着他与贫民窟神父联系将减少，但他们知道即使在罗马他也不会忘了他们。他的当选也提升了教区居民的士气，令他们觉得与教会更密切。卡拉拉解释说。 “他们看到他不只是阿根廷人，而是一个维勒罗人(Villa 居民)。”
星期一晚上，Isasmendi和他的200名教区居民，前往布宜诺斯艾利斯的五月广场（Plaza de Mayo），教宗的就职典礼将于明天上午五点半举行。他们搭起一个帐篷，在两棵树之间画上教区名字，并与数以千计的阿根廷信徒一起等待，…
当阿根廷的国歌开始从演讲者那里爆发出来的时候，Isasmendi踌躇满志地说：“哇，我们的老朋友Padre Bergoglio，a pope. Wow。”

Slum Priests: Pope Francis's Early Years

'Padre Bergoglio' once recruited clergymen to minister in Buenos Aires's poor, dangerous 'villas miserias.'

·      HALEY COHEN MAR 20, 2013

 

Residents of the Villa 21-24 slum walk past the Virgin of Caacupe chapel, where then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) of Argentina used to give mass, in the Barracas neighborhood of Buenos Aires on March 14, 2013. (Enrique Marcarian/Reuters)

For Father Gustavo Carrara, a day's work might mean finding someone to accompany a pregnant drug addict to the hospital, seeking housing for a homeless orphan, or consoling a woman whose husband was killed in a narco-fueled gunfight. Carrara runs the Saint Mary Mother of the People parish, located inside Villa 1-11-14, one of Buenos Aires' largest and most dangerous slums. He was recruited personally to serve there by Pope Francis I, who was then Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

"Padre Francis, who was then Padre Bergoglio, came to me as I was working as a deacon elsewhere and asked me to work as a priest in one of the villas," explains Carrara. He knew that the job would not be easy. Far from the Buenos Aires of postcards, with its leafy avenues, sultry tango and Francophile architecture, the city's slums, or villas miserias, are so savage that even ambulances and police have refused to enter. Still, Carrara claims, "I did not hesitate."

…

Since assuming his post as Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, Pope Francis I has worked to revive and fortify the Catholic movement in the villas. He grew the mission from 10 to more than 20 priests, arranged for the priests to live in pairs or groups instead of alone, and mandated bi-monthly meetings to foster a sense of community among the villero priests. Francis I often showed up to the city's various villas unannounced to talk with people in the streets, enjoy tea and cookies with churchgoers, and watch the priests deliver mass from a back pew. He helped find funding for certain projects in the villas and spoke frequently with the villa priests by telephone, helping them to resolve the problems of their parishes and sometimes their personal lives.

 

Father Juan Isasmendi, 32, one of four priests that works in Villa 21-24, says, "He was always very accessible. You would call his cell and sometimes stay on the phone for 10 minutes, sometimes 20 minutes, and sometimes two hours, just chatting and joking around. He has a very good sense of humor.

While most within the villa priests doubted that their Archbishop would be elected, Isasmendi claims he had an intuition. But he adds, "Even though I sensed it would happen, I couldn't believe it did."

In the election of Pope Francis I, the priests of the villas received a powerful confirmation of their work, which consumes most of their lives. Most villa priests work 7 days a week, rising early to pray before attending to their parishioners needs, sometimes working until midnight or later. Like priests in common parishes, they hear confessions, administer communions, baptize children, and oversee funerals. But the unique context in which they work presents unique challenges as well. Many of their parishioners are unemployed and hungry, relying on church soup kitchens for their survival. Teenage pregnancy is rampant. Paco, a cheap, highly addictive, smoke-able cocaine by-product has ravaged the villas, seducing its inhabitants and forcing violent crime levels up. In response, many of the priests have started rehab centers in conjunction with their parishes, frequently circling their neighborhoods on the look out for possible patients.

The work is not without its dangers. In 2009, after releasing a document denouncing the spread of Paco in the villas, a priest in Isasmendi's neighborhood, Villa 21-24, received a death threat. Isasmendi recalls how Pope Francis I helped the villa parish through that difficult time. "He showed up unannounced and walked slowly throughout the entire villa as if to say, if you touch them, you touch me. He even offered to sleep at the parish, but we assured him it wasn't necessary."

While the ascent of Pope Francis means he will be less accessible to the villa priests, they take comfort in the knowledge that he will continue fighting for their interests from Rome. His election has also bolstered the morale of the priests' parishioners. While most of the inhabitants of the villas are already pious, "The appointment Pope Francis I allows them to feel a more personal relationship with the church," explains Carrara. "They see him not just as Argentine, but as a fellow villero."

On Monday night, Isasmendi and 200 of his parishioners piled into three public busses to travel to the Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires' main square, where the Pope's inauguration would be live-cast the next morning at 5:30am. They pitched a tent, hoisted a sheet with their parish's name painted on it between two trees, and waited along with thousands of Argentine faithful, for the first glimpse of their "Papa Villero," or villa pope. The highly diverse crowd in Buenos Aires erupted when the screens showed Francisco I rolling into St. Peters square.

"Look at the time!" Isasmendi remarked to another priest from his parish, explaining that Francisco was always remarkably punctual. "And look, it's his normal mitre!" he said of the Popes papal headwear, "No gold like other popes."

As the Argentine anthem began to blare from the speakers, Isasmendi said wistfully, "Wow. Our old friend Padre Bergoglio, a pope. Wow."