DID YOU KNOW? When Pope Francis was
growing up, children of Italian immigrants were
referred to as tanos, and in Calle Membrillar there
is still a 94-year-old woman who remembers
the Bergoglio tanos well: “For me, Jorge Mario
Bergoglio is the tano who became Pope.”A EUPHORIC MISTAKE
However, there were some
lingering doubts: Jorge grew up
in that house, yes, but where is
actual proof that he really was
born there? And now, the
mystery has been solved, thanks
to the research of Daniel Vargas,
a historian from Argentina.
The real house that Jorge
Mario Bergoglio was born in is
located at Avenida Varela 268,
still in the same Flores district,
just a few meters away from
the Pope’s other home located
on Membrillar. It is a small,
single-story residence, which is
painted white these days.
The historian’s research began
soon after the election of Pope
Francis. “Some witnesses
immediately identified the
address at Membrillar, so that
ended up in all the various
biographies. In the general
euphoria, however, nobody
noticed that it could have been
a mistake,” Vargas explains.SOLID PROOF
In the same period that he was
also writing his book, The
Baptism of Pope Francis, Daniel
started collecting as many
documents as possible. Most
important was the discovery of
the Pope’s birth certificate,
where it clearly states that
“Mario José Francisco Bergoglio,
28 years old, certified that he
witnessed the birth, in his house,
of his son, Jorge Mario on 17
December 1936.” The record also
shows the name of Regina Sivori,
the Santo Papa’s mother.Future Santo Papa
Little did the Flores
neighborhood know
that a future pope was
growing up next door!JORGE AND HIS FAMILY
Pope Francis was born at Avenida Varela 268. The Bergoglio
family later moved to a bigger house along Calle Membrillar,
just a few meters away from their original home.