Memories of the future Pope’s bond with the Armenian community of Buenos Aires
In June 2016, Evangelina Himitian, from Argentinean La Nacion, arrived in Armenia as part of a group of journalists covering Pope Francis’ visit to Armenia.
She is the daughter of an Armenian evangelical pastor in Argentina, Jorge (Hrair) Himitian. He was friends with then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, elected Pope Francis in 2013, during his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
In 2013 Evangelina’s book “Francis, the People’s Pope” was published.
The following are excerpts from a 2016 conversation between Mediamax correspondent Yekaterina Poghosyan and Evangelina Himitian.
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My father, was the head of the Council of Evangelical Pastors in Buenos Aires. He met Cardinal Bergoglio in 2001. They became friends, held masses together. They were united by the fact that they both came from immigrant families, took the hard path of settling in a new place and started from scratch.
The future Pope was very close to Armenian community of Argentina. Embassy of Armenia is near the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, and he would often visit the community and the Embassy.
A strong fire erupted at one of Buenos Aires’s night clubs in December 2004. It killed around 200 people, most of them young. The families of the victims were in need of moral support after the incident, someone had to talk to them and console them. Cardinal Bergoglio called the head of Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese and asked him for assistance. Cardinal’s sympathy to Armenians of Argentina grew stronger after this occurrence.
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Once I published an article on the poor condition of needy families living at the city’s station, and he contacted me through his assistant, emailing that he read my article and liked it very much.
When I began covering the matters of the Church, reasons to meet the Cardinal multiplied. At a meeting on the church matters once Cardinal Bergoglio was asked what restaurant he would like to dine at. He replied that he wouldn’t go to a restaurant, but rather have dinner at the same place as other participants. So the pastors were the first to sit at the dining table.
When it was time for the journalists to eat, we approached the table and saw that almost nothing was left. We took whatever was there and shared with each other. Cardinal saw that, took the food from the pastors’ table and gave it to us. He’s always been this thoughtful, willing and modest man.
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When Cardinal was elected Pope in 2013, my father and some other Argentinean pastors visited Vatican. As a journalist covering church matters, I went with them. When we reached the Pope’s residence, security guards didn’t let me in, as my name wasn’t on the list of the invited persons. The Pope talked to my father about my book.
My father said I was waiting outside, but I wasn’t allowed in. The Pope called security, and I entered. We discussed the book, and he said he liked it very much. After that, we interacted from time to time through emails.
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I think he was very brave to decide to come to Armenia. He knows already that he’s moving the pieces on the word’s geopolitical chessboard by this visit, and he’s coming to say that peace is really possible here. He prays to God to become a bridge between the Churches in building a peaceful future.
Yekaterina Poghosyan