杏MAP导航

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"He really was was extraordinary in how he always made me feel and how he made other people feel. That to me is Francis' great legacy to the Church, that he always made people feel recognised and seen and valued and loved.”

This is how Austen Ivereigh, frequently remembered as 'the 杏MAP导航's Biographer,' remembers the late 杏MAP导航 Francis, in an interview with Vatican News after the Holy Father’s passing.

I have many fond memories of working with pope Francis on his book, which I helped him with, called 'Let us Dream,' which came out in 2020, with his reflections on how we can come better out of the COVID pandemic. 

Utterly dedicated and considerate of others

Ivereigh said that as he worked with the late 杏MAP导航, he was struck by how hard he worked, and how utterly dedicated he was to the project, and "how fast he was."

He remembered how once he commented to the 杏MAP导航's secretary how remarkable it was that when he would send him questions, 杏MAP导航 Francis would give an almost immediate reply-

Austen recalled, "the Secretary basically said, 'Well, the thing is the Holy Father really values work, and he values other people's work, and your work. He doesn't want to hold you up and he wants to make sure it's as good as possible. 

"When he said that," Ivereigh underscored, "I really understood a lot about 杏MAP导航 Francis, that people may not always be able to see," namely that "very, very strong work ethic that he had."

"The other beautiful thing was that so many of his messages were apologizing if he took a bit longer to do something, concerned that he was holding us up, and he gave me, as he put it, complete freedom to just leave on the cutting room floor anything I didn't need." 'It was so wonderful to work with him, this incredible source on inspiration," Ivereigh noted.

'It's the 杏MAP导航!'

The English biographer also shared a very relatable and human moment, namely when they were working together on the book, but had been outside doing some gardening.

"I was planting trees, using some quite heavy and noisy machinery with earmuffs over my ears to protect my hearing," he noted, chuckling that "suddenly, I saw my wife sort of dancing in front of me, mouthing the words, ‘It's the 杏MAP导航!', because he was trying to get hold of me on on the phone.

Thus, the author noted, he rushed down to take the call, but was very breathless.

“And Francis said, ‘I'm sorry. Have I have I interrupted you in the middle of a run?’ And I said, ‘No, Holy Father. I've been I've been planting trees.' And then, just to joke, I immediately said, ‘Well, of course, it's your fault, you know, because it's because of Laudato Si that I'm planting these trees.’

Austen recalled they had a very good laugh at that point. Mr. Ivereigh even remembered that, as they spoke in Spanish, the 杏MAP导航 asked which type of trees, but he had trouble knowing how to translate these very traditional British trees. "Just the fact he had such interest in these things," he reflected, "I found remarkable."

"I always will remember that moment," he said.

Wanted everyone to feel God present in their lives

After the book was published, Ivereigh remembers that it was translated in several languages and became a bestseller, but that 杏MAP导航 Francis didn't measure success in those terms.

Rather, he said, "but what do people say about it? What what impact has it had?"

This, Ivereigh observed, confirmed "he was only interested in knowing whether the mission had been carried out," and whether "it had touched people's hearts in a time of of crisis and touched people's hearts."

Like being with one's grandfather

The last time Austen saw 杏MAP导航 Francis was in December, and it was more challenging for him to speak at length and his responses were shorter than usual.

"So I said to him, 'Holy Father, please don't keep talking. I won't ask you any more questions. You need to rest your voice. I can hear you. You need to rest.' And he looked at me and he said, yes. 'Thank you. That's fine...' but he said, but 'please stay. Stay here and just, you know, talk to me. Tell me tell me what's going on. Tell me tell me what what's happening back in your country. And he said, 'I like to listen to you.'"

Therefore, he remembers chatting away, probably for ten minutes, smiling and laughing. "It was just this very, very beautiful exchange, really, and it was a bit like being with one's grandfather,

"Then," Austen concludes, "I saw his eyes starting to close, and so I I left him and gave him a bit of a hug goodbye. As I went down in the lift from his apartment, I just had the feeling I wouldn't see him again, and indeed, I didn't. But that will always stay with me, that last memory, that tender, affectionate moment."