Vatican City (AP) – In the streets around the Vatican, where Pope Francis made impromptu outings, some of the traders mourn the man they knew, not as the head of a church or a head of state, but as an ordinary person. They prayed for him while he was hospitalizedAnd now they miss them a lot.
“He had been our regular client for over seven years,” said Sebastian Padrón, an Argentinian ice cream manufacturer whose store is located at the corner of Francis’ austere hotel room in the Vatican city. He recalled how much he and his family felt close to François, who often offered gifts to his children.
“Memory is wonderful, that’s why it hurts so much,” he told the Associated Press on Thursday. Francis had a notorious sweet tooth, and the Dulce de Leche de Padrón ice cream, a typical Argentine caramel dessert, has become the favorite of the Pope.
When Francis became Pope in 2013, he chose to live in the Domus Santa Marta hotel rather than in the sumptuous papal apartments of the apostolic palace, overlooking Saint-Pierre square. The choice spoke to its luxury aversion and a eagerness to mix with the masses. He moved around Rome in an ordinary tailgate and entered stores to buy shoe soles, change glasses lenses and buy classical music and tango recordings from his native Argentina. He had deplored his inability to walk freely as he did in Buenos Aires.
“I met a very friendly, very friendly man,” said Raniero Mancinelli, a Roman tailor who sold the basic pectoral cross that Francis wore for decades. Mancinelli, who was adapted to the last three popes, said that, unlike her predecessors, Francis wanted everything to be simple, practical and inexpensive.
Mancinelli said that he had sold Francis a cardinal belt before the conclave which ultimately elected him Pope. He recalled Francis’ words by learning the price of clothing:
“Raniero, you’re a bit of a thief, you’re a bit expensive.” The rest of the outfit of his scarlet cardinal, said Francis regularly, was a hand of his predecessor as a pearl of Buenos Aires.
Francis has wreaked havoc among tourists and Romans several times when he presented himself in an optician store in the historic center of Rome.
Luca Spiezia, who owns the store with his father, remembers his surprise against the Pope presenting himself simply as “Francesco” when they met in 2015. Offered a new pair of glasses, Francis refused, only asking for new objectives in his former executives and insisting on the payment of work.
“He never made you feel that he was a powerful figure in the world, even if he was the church leader,” said Spiezia. “I hope this will continue with the next pope.”
