Francis Talks about Prostitutes: "I Really Liked Porota"
In the chapter "The prostitutes who will be among the first in the Kingdom of God," Francis recalls his youth in the Buenos Aires district Barrio.
He met a hairdresser and her sister, who both worked as prostitutes: "They earned some extra money by washing and laying."
He knew two other prostitutes in the neighbourhood. They served a 'higher class', were picked up by car and were called Ciche and Porota.
When Francis became Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, Porota called him and asked to see him. Francis received her in the bishop's house, "It must have been in 1993."
Porota told him that she had experienced a lot, but the death of an important lover had changed her life. From then on, she was no longer a prostitute, but a caregiver in a home for the elderly. Francis raves about her and calls her "a modern Mary Magdalene". Her language was "memorable and imaginative".
On her deathbed, she called Francis one last time, asking for the anointing of the sick and Communion. "In between, she cursed a doctor and shouted at another patient. She hadn't lost her bite, not even at the end."
And: "I really liked her and always say a prayer for her on the anniversary of her death."
The description of such experiences fits seamlessly into the image a priest who has never had any real pastoral experience and therefore tends to see these things through rose-coloured spectacles.
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