The friendship between Pope Francis and this missionary, who 36 years ago founded on an immense landfill on the outskirts of the capital of Madagascar, the Milagro City De Akamasoa, where more than 40,000 people currently live, began in the classrooms of an Argentine novitiate.
It was the year 1967. The then priest Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a novices teacher at Villa Barilari in San Miguel. Specifically, professor of theology. “I was 19 years old and he was 30. I was his disciple for 6 months,” said Pi Pedro Opeka in conversation.
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The following year, in 1968, Fr. Opeka decided to give up the first world’s comfort to live and suffer with the disinherited of the earth.
As soon as they get to Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, with only 22 years, the reality of the garbage dumps. He even saw young children fight with pigs and dogs for food remains. A hell of “violence, robberies, lies, envy and no solidarity”, in his own words, which pushed him to get underway.
But first he had to form and consecrate his life to God. Father Opeka studied philosophy in Slovenia and Theology in France. In 1975 he was ordained a priest in the Basilica of Luján and the following year he returned to Madagascar, where he has remained until today.
At that time he lost the track of his “friend” Jorge Mario. “I didn’t see him anymore, but when he was chosen Pope 12 years ago, I was in Rome and we resumed the relationship that ended up being a deep friendship,” he recalls.
Since then they were talking from time to time. Until they saw each other when the Pontiff visited the city of Akamasoa in 2019, which means “Good friend”.
His hospitalization has been a reason for deep concern for the community. “Here we pray every day and every Sunday for him. In our Sunday Mass there are 10,000 people and we always ask for their recovery. We send messages and songs to give courage, ”he explains.
Fr. Opeka does not hide that, with the passing of the days admitted with bilateral pneumonia, people’s anguish has also grown by the Pope: “We thought they would be 10 days and return to the Vatican, but it has already been a month. You feel a pain in the people of Akamasoa, and we continue to pray for a miracle. ”
Of these 12 years of pontificate, Fr. Opeka stays, above all, with what he considers the “most valuable teaching” of Pope Francis.
“The pontiff calls us to go to the periphery, where people suffer. His words come from the heart, from real life, not from theory. They impact and give courage to those who fight for the poorest, ”he says.
According to the Argentine priest, “every person is thirsty for love, faith and justice, and the Pope understands it better than anyone.”
“Pope’s encyclicals are manuals of spirituality for both believers and for non -believers. Laudato SI ‘, for example, is a manual about the care of creation. Everything Francisco has written is so strong because he is born from real life, ”he says.
The last time they saw each other in person was in June last year. A private encounter at the Santa Marta house, its residence in the Vatican, of which there are no photos. Before that meeting, they had seen themselves in Easter in another encounter without cameras without journalists, when he saw him something decayed.
“He told me that he had had a very strong bronchitis and although he was able to heal he became ill again,” he said when verifying the clinical picture he entered almost a month ago at the Gemelli. The pontiff’s disease resulted in bilateral pneumonia.
The Argentine missionary says that “humanity needs spiritual and political visionary leaders” as the pontiff.
“He who lives the Gospel accepts all the people of the world as his family. It is a radical choice to love enemies. Pope Francis awakens the disciples of Jesus, because we have fallen asleep, we have locked ourselves in our churches. And the Church has no borders, the Gospel has no borders, ”he adds.
Pope Francis visit to Akamasoa in 2019
Pope Francis’s visit to Akamasaa in 2019 was a “unforgettable for the people,” says the Argentine missionary. Before 10,000 children and young people from Akamasoa, Pope Francis made it clear that poverty “is not a fatality.”
On the contrary, that experience, said Fr. Opeka, is the proof of how “the foundations of joint work, the sense of family and community allowed them to restore artisanally and patiently and patiently confidence in oneself and others, from the conviction that“ God’s dream is not only personal progress, but mainly community ”.
The priest witnessed the deep connection he established with the Malgaches. “The boys sang a song in Spanish that today for us is almost a hymn and we sing it many times,” he says.
Father Opeka could accompany the Pontiff in the Papamóvil during a two -kilometer route in the middle of an enthusiastic crowd.
“Joy was indescribable. When they saw me with the Pope, people were so happy to see him. And for me it was as if San Pedro directly told me: ‘Look, look at the joy of these people’. And I replied: ‘Yes, Holy Father, I see her, I see her.’ It was an unforgettable moment. Pope Francis has a special perception of truth, of what is authentic. He has special antennas and feels it. And when he feels the authenticity of the people, of young people, of children. ”
In the midst of that crowd, Fr. Opeka took the hand of the pontiff and proclaimed: “This is the Pope of the poor, the Pope of the poor.”
An image that now takes up when saying that his true legacy is to have made the Gospel alive: “The true gospel is fraternity, mutual help, knowing how to forgive and live authentically, not in appearances.”
Akamasoa, is not a cooperation project
Fr. Opeka makes it clear that Akamasoa is not a development cooperation project, but an urgent combat against poverty. “Here you fight without intermediaries, we are alone in the face of misery and extreme poverty. We advance together with ups and downs and forgive each other for not living up to the challenges we assume. ”
Where the trash was piled up before, they managed to build a well -urban and paved city. However, the beginnings were not easy: “We had no financial means, but I was certain that God never abandons the poorest.”
When asked about how he achieved the necessary financing to permanently help 29,000, to school 14,000 children and benefit more than 500,000 people. Father Opeka is clear: “Providence. God is our best financial partner! ”
Now in this Malgache city they have schools, hospitals, libraries and other services. “When poor parents discover responsibility, they stop stealing and look for work and their children go to school. Families reunite the joy of living and mutual help. They discover that love for their children gives meaning to their lives. ”
“It is not the money that makes miracles, it is love, faith, passion, courage and perseverance,” says this Argentine missionary of the Order of San Vicente de Paúl, son of Slovenian immigrants.
In any case, everything is not resolved. “Here people have to walk a kilometer of first leg and another back to get water. The State has installed some plastic tanks in certain neighborhoods, but we continue to suffer from the lack of water. ”
However, he insists that his suffering is full of dignity. “We don’t give them anything. We have about 3,000 people employed in the construction of housing and 500 more in the quarries, spotting stone. ”
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.