‘Pope is Argentine, but God is Brazilian’, guaranteed me Francisco

The first steps were calculatedly careful, which was reflected in moderate speeches and almost no improvisation. But it was not long before he began to release his messages, his front attacks against injustices and had no complex in reaffirming the dogmas of the church. There would be no doubt. The shape and the gestures are new. The priority with the poor is new. But not the gospel. Church dogmas were reaffirmed, albeit with a positive tone, not as threats.

Behind the scenes, as the week passed, people close to the Pope tell him that he himself realized the size of the trip and his own position. Despite acting the same way as he did as a cardinal from Buenos Aires and use the same expressions, his speech gained an international dimension and the crowds that attracted to Copacabana beach impressed the most experienced cardinals. St. Peter’s Square had already discovered that this Pope was popular. But now he has proved that it is also in one of the best known beaches in the world. Vatican sources confirmed that the Pope even cried during the trip because of the emotion.

One of the aspects that caught the attention of their advisers and the organizers of the trip was their vitality. Despite the charged agenda, the Pope who was 76 at the time still found time to work on Curia reform, make political consultations and discuss with cardinals. There was still time for him to be directly involved in logistical aspects of the trip.

If several times the stage and the pulpit was his theater, it was over the open popemobile that a substantial part of his mission occurred. To the Argentine faithful, he even pointed out that he was “caged” and on several occasions he ordered his advisers to insist on the authorities that he would not accept being armored, neither for glasses nor for security.

About the car imported from the Vatican, as the week passed, the Pope was increasingly comfortable. “He was used to only the short routes in São Pedro Square and so he felt a little when he arrived in Rio. But soon he liked the idea,” joked one of his advisers.

From top of the car, he drank mate, was the target of hundreds of thrown flags, moved from side to side, and even made a fan gesture when he saw a San Lorenzo shirt in the crowd.