At Santa Marta, Valli adds, Bergoglio has found “a place that allows him to realize different objectives: to to give priority to the pastoral aspect of the mission of the Pope; to provide a practical example of how in his opinion homilies should be delivered (in Evangelii Gaudium he recommends that they be short and not seem like conferences or lectures); to remain firmly attached to the message of the Gospel; to reiterate that papal authority should be exercised in a lowly manner, without triumphalism; to express himself freely, avoiding curial quicksand; to keep himself from the risk of being contaminated by clericalism.”
A little point of interest about the napkin the Pope uses at meals. “When Francis realized that it was changed at every meal, three times a day, he said: ‘But what a waste! Why do we need to change a clean napkin?’. He then asked that it be changed only a couple of times a week, and now the Pope’s napkin is kept, as with all the other guests, in a sachet. Except that, in the case of the Pope’s sachet, there is embroidered ‘P. Francesco.’”
