BUENOS AIRES (OSV News): In the tough slum neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina, frequented by Pope Francis before his election in 2013, the Church is often the only social service facility available.
As well as leading people to God, Father Pedro Cannavó, parish priest of the church of Mary Mother of the People, is acutely aware of his role as a community leader and a provider for the material as well as spiritual needs of the people. OSV News spoke to Father Cannavó outside the simple parish church of in the shadows of the famous San Lorenzo Stadium in
Hundreds of people—mostly women and children—were patiently queuing up, waiting in line to receive a hot meal from the parish soup kitchen. Established during the Covid-19 pandemic, Father Cannavó said that “now the need is even greater.”
Father Cannavó was ordained by then Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio in 2009, four years before the Jesuit archbishop would be chosen to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.
“Padre Jorge,” as locals refer to him, is remembered fondly in the poor neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.
“He used to come here to be with us often,” according to Nipo Chan, an elderly guest of the soup kitchen whose parents came as immigrants from Japan before World War II.
“Other people can say they saw the pope, or they heard the pope—here we can say, ‘He baptised my child’ or ‘He gave first holy Communion to my family,’” Chan said, beaming with pride.
“We loaned him to the world, but now we want him to come back,” Chan said.
Poverty levels have skyrocketed to 57.4 per cent of Argentina’s 46 million people this year, the highest rate in 20 years, according to a study by the Catholic University of Argentina.
The Mary Mother of the People’s main soup kitchen feeds around 3,000 people every day.
