Marcelo Colombo: "The recovery is complex but the Pope is a strong man eager to travel"

ROME. — The Archbishop of Mendoza, Marcelo Colombo, president of the Argentine bishops, is living through these hours of total uncertainty regarding the Pope's long-awaited trip to Argentina, from November 8 to 11, with trepidation. Although it remains confirmed by the Vatican and preparations for the papal flight are advancing, Colombo is very aware that an announcement of postponement could come at any moment. "In principle, the most important thing remains his health, and afterwards, naturally, when we have any news, we will communicate it. The truth is that we know it is a complex recovery, but also that he is a strong man with a great desire to travel," Colombo said in an interview with LA NACION in this capital, where he took part in the summit convened by Leo on the tenth anniversary of "Amoris Laetitia," the document by Pope Francis on love in the family. A nun holds an image of Pope Leo XIV before a Mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Gregorio Borgia - AP After highlighting the enormous work already done in the country in view of the papal visit, Colombo—who travels back to Argentina on Saturday—described the news of Leo's cancer, which puts the trip at risk, as "a hard blow for everyone," though he also stressed that "what matters now is that the Pope gets well." —How are you experiencing this moment of uncertainty, where on the one hand the Vatican confirms the trip, but on the other, it seems very difficult? —Yes. In principle, the first thing is experiencing it from faith as an important moment to place our trust in God, that the Pope may fully recover, and that, having done everything medically possible, now comes the recovery, and that means for the Pope a time of certain rest and a certain calm in his movements. We as a Church are attentive to whatever they tell us or communicate to us from there. In principle, the most important thing remains his health, and afterwards, naturally, when we have any news, we will communicate it. The truth is that we know it is a complex recovery, but also that he is a strong man with a great desire to travel. —Do you know anything about the timing? I was told that when he returned to the Apostolic Palace, that is, home, perhaps the decision about the trip would be announced. Some say that when the tests are done, the results of the biopsy, of everything they took from him... —What I heard is that a week was taken, meaning that next Tuesday we would be in a position to imagine some kind of confirmation or communication from the Holy See. Because until now the most immediate thing is the hospitalization, but afterwards, when he is discharged, there will surely be a communication. The Mass of Pope Leo XIV at the Gemelli hospital. Vatican Media —They said he would appear at the next Angelus, on Sunday, and some imagine that on that occasion, just as last Sunday he announced his surgery, he might announce that he will not be able to travel on the recommendation of his doctors... —Yes, it is the serenity with which the Pope takes up these matters. And the trust he places in the steps being taken, I believe, will lead him to communicate it at the proper time. May this even allow us to envision his full recovery. And this will surely tell us something on Sunday, but perhaps more about the cross and the prayer he has felt close from the People of God. —You learned on Tuesday, at 10 p.m. Rome time, of the medical report indicating that the Pope has lung cancer: how was it for you? —I learned it from you, because questions from journalists in Argentina began reaching me. That is, in fact, I had the impression from the afternoon of the surgery, which had ended well. So I was left with that positive impression, but after dinner, when I was watching some news, the journalists began calling me, and that is when I found out, and yes, it was very hard news. I think one always speculated that it was only a nodule. So it was very hard. On the other hand, one also gives thanks to God that this step was taken and that time was not allowed to pass. —The Pope lived 20 years in Peru, first as an Augustinian missionary and then as bishop, and it is a very important country for him... But for you, what is the reason for this deep desire to make this trip to Latin America? —Well, to Lozano (Jorge, Archbishop of San Juan), whom he saw on Monday, closer to the surgery, he said "see you in Argentina." No, I believe he has a desire to meet first and foremost, certainly, with Peru; it is a great longing for that reunion with the people he loves so much. And then I believe he also has a spiritual closeness with Latin America and the possibility of meeting with Uruguay and Argentina. In Uruguay there is an Augustinian community, in Montevideo, and in Argentina there are several Augustinian communities: I have one in Mendoza, there are the two in Buenos Aires, there are those in Salta and throughout the prelature of Cafayate. So surely also for that reason, it is meeting with his brothers, and meeting with the peoples of Uruguay and Argentina is quite a challenge, a beautiful opportunity that he continually weighs. View of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, where Pope Leo XIV is hospitalized. Andrew Medichini - AP —A more circumstantial question: it is evident that for the Milei government this probable suspension or postponement is something that suits it, because it feared the things the Pope might have said regarding the Church's social doctrine, Magnifica Humanitas, because of his visit to the Cottolengo of Don Orione, in short, because of a rather different, evangelical vision that he also has regarding issues of migrants, poverty, multilateralism... —I have the impression that the Pope's speeches were not yet finished. The Secretariat of State works on these matters with great care, with great delicacy. That is, nothing was finished yet. From what I saw in general, I understand there was good disposition, because at all times it was assessed that this visit would have a strong impact, whatever the sector. Also for us bishops, it is a renewed invitation to mission, and surely a call to always make a Church of welcome, of inclusion, and of everything that we as a Church could invite and encourage in society. So I think it is a difficult moment for everyone, because we had prepared so much, and the truth is that the whole operation, all the preparation, was ready: the security, logistics, and infrastructure side at the reporting level was very well worked out. I think for everyone it is rather a hard blow. —Especially seeing the things the Pope has been saying on all his trips, especially the recent ones in Spain, in France, against polarization, against animosity, the need to disarm language... —This is a message he has had from the beginning; even in Lent this year he proposed to us to disarm the word, and in Magnifica Humanitas. We were working a great deal on this, and on the 29th there will be in Buenos Aires, at the UCA, a very important meeting on this subject, as a prelude to the Pope's visit, whenever it may be, as God wills. And there this theme of Magnifica Humanitas will be addressed, and everything that the Pope's call means for a humanity where the person holds the center, the priority: with God on the horizon and the brother at the center, which is the heart of the message. I believe this is powerful, no matter where it is said from, in whatever place it is said, it is impactful. —And the importance of social justice in the Church's social doctrine, as he recalls in Magnifica Humanitas. —Exactly. He says it especially, he takes it up in a long paragraph, so all of that is naturally part of his message from quite some time ago. The newly elected Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, appears with the master of ceremonies and Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Cardinal Vinko Puljić in the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Domenico Stinellis - AP —Yesterday, some statements by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, who said the Pope might have to "rimodulare," in Italian, something like "readjust" his pontificate, caused a bit of a stir. Is a new stage of the pontificate opening with a Pope with cancer who will have to be treated? —I believe that when one has a sick person at home, one knows that other schedules begin to appear, medical visits, errands to buy medications, things that change and that were not on the horizon of daily life. If that is understood as adjusting schedules, adjusting activities, I think it is natural that it be so. But knowing what we have been able to learn about the Pope, with a serene but forceful figure in terms of what he sets out to do and wishes to carry forward, we know that the intensity, beyond the organizational side, he will continue to maintain, because he is a man passionate about his ministry. Perhaps there will be adjustments to schedules, to agendas, but let us never imagine that he will stop doing what he has to do, because that is how he appears. —Many observers recall that John Paul II, with his final years of a sick pontificate, but also Pope Francis in a wheelchair in his final years, were popes who ultimately, in fragility, grew stronger in their image and their capacity to communicate their message... Is that so? —Yes, I constantly receive messages from people telling me "it doesn't matter, what's important is that he gets well, we want him to get well." This is what people write to me from Argentina, from the different places where I have been, where I was a priest or bishop; it is like a general panorama: what matters now is the Pope, and we believe that means not only empathy, but the understanding that he is Peter for us, and a good shepherd who leads us where we must walk in this time. And finally, I take the opportunity to make a renewed invitation to prayer and to trust: a prayer in the communities and in the neighborhoods, where people, with such good spirit, are thinking of him; let us carry him in prayer. By Elisabetta Piqué