"Hello?" Brother Alfonso said.
"With whom am I speaking?" the Pope asked.
"It's Alfonso, the Father General's personal secretary," he replied.
"It's the Pope, I would like to speak with the Father General to thank him for the beautiful letter he sent me," the Holy Father said.
"Sure, just a moment," Brother Alfonso replied in amazement.
As he made his way to the office of Father Adolfo Nicolas, the Jesuit Father General, he continued his conversation.
"Holy Father, congratulations on your election! We are all happy here for your election, we are praying a lot for you," Brother Alfonso told him.
"Praying that I keep going or that I turn back?" the Pope joked.
"That you keep going, of course," he replied, as the Holy Father laughed.
"Stunned and bewildered, Brother Alfonso didn't even bother to knock and simply entered the office of the Father General, who looked at him with surprise. He gave him the phone, looked at him and said: The Pope," Father Barriga recounted.
"We don't know the details about what happened next, but the Pope cordially thanked the Father General for his letter. The Father General said he would like to see him to greet him. The Pope said he would instruct his secretary so that they could meet as soon as possible and that somebody from the Vatican would be in touch," Father Barriga said in his message.
(Story continues below)
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