Italian paper publishes account of missionary who baptized Pope
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The newspaper published an account of various episodes in the life of Bergoglio, including his baptism, which occurred on Christmas night at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians and Saint Carlos in Buenos Aires.
According to Il Cittadino, Father Pozzoli was a “very important figure and model of priestly life” for Pope Francis, so much so that in 1982, the future Pontiff remembered him in the prologue for his “Meditations for Religious” as “an example of ecclesial service and religious consecration,” underscoring “the great influence he had on his life.”
In a letter he wrote on October 20, 1990, to Salesian Father Cayetano Bruno, Pope Francis explained his relationship with the missionary priest: “Today is the 29th anniversary of the death of Father Enrico Pozzoli, and I just celebrated Mass for the priest who baptized me on December 25, 1936.”