An Italian pastor has donated a used Renault 4 with 186,000 miles to
Pope Francis, in response to the exhortation he made to priests and
seminarians in July to live simply and humbly. Father Renzo Roca, 69, who is pastor of St. Lucy Parish in Pescantina,
wrote to the Holy Father offering to donate his car, according to news
reports out of the Vatican. The car was delivered to the Pontiff on September 7 at St. Martha’s
Residence, shortly before the beginning of the Vigil for Peace which the
Holy Father led in St. Peter’s Square that evening. “When I gave it to him, we got into the car, but I didn’t have to
explain anything to the Pope because he told me that he also used a
Renault 4 in Argentina and that it never left him stranded,” Father Roca
said. After receiving the car, the Pope rode together with Father Roca to meet
with the group of faithful that traveled with him to Rome. During the brief encounter, a young man gave the Pope a t-shirt and
Father Roca explained that “normally we sell the shirts for five Euros
to raise money for parish activities, but we gave it to him for free.” However, the Pope said he would pay for it. “He took out his wallet and gave us ten Euros and asked for change.
Luckily I had five Euros in my pocket. Incredible,” Father Roca said. He also joked that a Swiss guard standing nearby told him, “Now we are
going to be a little worried because we’ll have to watch what Pope
Francis does with that Renault 4.”
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...