Rome, Italy, Aug 11, 2009 / 08:36 am
He is 76 years old and has spent 33 years serving at the Vatican, 21 of which he has spent in the ambulance that follows Popes around. Brother Martin Mendez, known affectionately as “Br. Martino,” is a member of the Order of St. John of God and works at the Vatican Pharmacy. He has served Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and now Benedict XVI.
Br. Martino is one of the oldest active workers at the Vatican and those who know him say he is a tireless worker. He also has earned a nick-name—“Br. Candy”—because he hands out sweets to everyone, “especially to those who complained about their shift or because they wanted to rest more.”
After serving as the Pope’s nurse for 25 years, this Spanish monk has spent the last eight years at the Vatican Pharmacy. He studied nursing in Madrid and as a member of the Order of St. John of God has worked throughout Spain and Bolivia. “I remember one night on the highest lake in the world, Lake Titicaca, at some 4,000 meters. That’s way up there,” he said, recounting his time in Bolivia to a Spanish newspaper.
Amidst his present-day joys he says there is one thing he misses—his spot in the Pope’s ambulance. “When they told me I was too old to sit there and that I should take another job, I was sad. That ambulance had become my second home. But later I was happy to know I would be at the Pope’s disposal for any emergency.”