The Pope's
Childhood Home
Previously mistaken to
be the house he was
born in, the building in
calle Membrillar 531 was
where the Santo Papa
grew up, and where he
spent many happy
weekends relaxing and
playing cards with his
siblings and parents.
School Life Below is what the elementary
school No. 8 Colonnello Cervino looks like
today; encircled is an old school register,
where the name of its most famous pupil
appears, “Bergoglio Jorge Mario.”with their mother, and went to
the movies as a family.The Bergoglios were very
religious and they would go to
Mass in the church of San Jose
together. Then, like any self-
respecting Italian family, they
would have a lengthy Sunday
lunch followed by dessert. “We
were poor, but we had great
dignity, and [were] always
faithful to what we considered
Italian tradition,” relates Maria
Elena, the Pope’s sister. Their
mother cooked dishes in the
Piedmontese style. She
whipped up pastas,
white risotto, ragu with
cappelletti, and baked
chicken. These were
the recipes her mother-
in-law taught her. In
turn, she handed
them down to
her own children
when she was ill
after the birth of
Maria Elena.THE FILMS THAT
SHAPED THE MANThanks to their regular forays
to the movies, the future
Pope Francis learned about
cinema. He loves Italian neo-
realism movies like Rome,
Open City, the Roberto
Rossellini masterpiece, which
he still counts as one of his
favorite films. The Road by
Federico Fellini is another
film he particularly likes. In
an interview with Fr. Antonio
Spadaro, editor of the magazine
La Civiltà Cattolica (Catholic
Civilization), the Pope said,
“I identify with that movie
where there’s an
implicit reference to
Saint Francis.” He also
likes Argentine movies
like Claro de Luna, Los
Isleros, and Esperando
La Carroza, or movies
starring Tita Merello,
the Argentine actress,
who was also a singer
and dancer.Many years later, the grown-
up Jorge considers Babette’s
Feast as one of his ultimate
favorites. About it, he has
said, “You can see a typical
case of exaggeration of
limits and prohibitions. The
protagonists are people who
live in an exaggerated Calvinist
puritanism, to the point that
Christ's redemption is lived as
a negation of worldly things.
With the freshness of freedom
arrives, wasting a dinner, they
all end up being transformed.
In truth, this community did
not know what happiness was,
it was living crushed by pain.”Who would have thought that
a young boy named Jorge
who loved football, watching
movies, and Italian dishes
would not only grow up to say
such profound words about his
favorite film, but become the
Holy Father!