The sister of the Catholic Church’s leader once revealed insights into whether he had aspirations of becoming pope. However, her account differs from claims made by someone believed to be his childhood sweetheart.
Pope Francis pursued the priesthood after the woman he allegedly loved declined his proposal. The blonde, once the subject of public interest, was spotted during an interview with reporters.
María Elena Bergoglio, the younger sister of Pope Francis, once revealed in an interview that he never aspired to lead the Catholic Church. She recalled private conversations where they joked about the idea, and he would respond, “No, please no.”
Despite his initial hesitation, she expressed pride in his role, calling it “a blessing from God.” She observed that his expression during his first public appearance as pope conveyed a fullness of heart. For her, she had no knowledge of his past romantic life.Her comment about his romantic life surfaced after Amalia Damonte, a childhood acquaintance from the Buenos Aires suburb of Flores, shared a striking memory of Pope Francis’ early years in a 2013 interview. She recalled him once declaring, “If I can’t marry you, I’ll become a priest.”
Damonte hinted at a possible twist of fate, suggesting that had he not left his position at the church of San José de Flores a few months earlier, he might have been the one officiating her wedding. As for her own feelings, she dismissed any notion of youthful romance, “In love? … I only knew love when I was much older.”
However, their brief connection began in childhood. The Argentine woman, who grew up as Pope Francis’ neighbor, recalled being the object of his affections when they were just 12 years old.By 2013, Damonte was still living just four doors away from where he had spent his early years in Buenos Aires’ Flores neighborhood. Even back then, she said, it was evident that Pope Francis was already contemplating a life devoted to God.
One memory stood out — a handwritten note he left for her, which caused quite a stir at the time. “I remember perfectly that he had drawn me a little white house, which had a red roof, and it said, ‘This is what I’ll buy when we marry,'” she recounted.
Though the letter was a childhood gesture, it caused an uproar in Damonte’s household. “These were childish things, nothing more,” she said, but her parents saw it differently. Her father spanked her, and her mother confronted her directly.
“My mom broke it off. Good Lord. She came to get me at the school and said, ‘So, you’re getting letters from a boy?!'” From that moment, her parents took strict measures to keep them apart.
“My parents pulled me away completely. From that point on, they did everything possible to separate us,” Damonte recalled. “What I wanted is for him to disappear from the map!”
They spoke once more, but the conversation was tense. She told him to stay away and not approach her again, warning that if he got too close to her father, he would be in danger. Looking back, she dismissed the experience as insignificant, noting that nothing could have come of it given the strictness of their parents.
The Bergoglio family left Membrillar Street decades ago, and Damonte moved away as well, eventually marrying and raising a family. She later returned to her parents’ home but never attempted to reconnect with her former neighbor, though she followed his rise in the church from a distance.She viewed him as a down-to-earth person, much like herself, and believed they shared a humble nature and compassion for the poor — values she felt were often overlooked in today’s world.
Despite Argentine media dubbing her the “Pope’s Girlfriend” and speculating about a possible reunion, she dismissed the idea as absurd. Acknowledging the vast difference in their current lives, she considered herself part of his past — a simple and untainted chapter that remained tied to their shared beginnings.
Despite considering herself part of his past, she was stunned when she learned that her childhood sweetheart had become Pope.
In another interview, Damonte admitted, “I froze in front of the television. I couldn’t believe that Jorge was the Pope.” She described him as a wonderful person and someone she had always regarded as honorable. Though surprised by his rise to the papacy, Damonte continued to follow her former love’s journey from a distance.