The delivery of his photographs book by Pope John Paul II led to FGuatemalan Ottographer Ricky López Bruni to know and exchange gifts with Pope Francis During a meeting in Rome in 2014, on a trip destined to deliver to the Pontiff his photographic book John Paul II, Messenger of La Pazwork that was born from the visits of the Pope to Guatemala.
In his encounter, the photographer managed to exchange with Pope Francis a very special gift. In addition to his book, López Bruni presented a vest from Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango. Given this, skillfully, López asked the Pontiff to give a gift, receiving the Zucchetto or Solido that the Pope behaved at that time.
The national photographer told Free press that, on that occasion, The Pope broke the protocol to perform the exchange, a gesture that has had a great miraculous impact on the religious community of Antigua Guatemala.
Visit and encounter in the Vatican
With the aim of enhancing the work of Guatemalan artists before the Vatican, the trip arose at the initiative of Vice Chancellor Rodrigo Vielmann, who contacted Ricky López and other artists to take his work on the Catholic Church in 2014.
It was on that trip, On December 10, 2014, when the Guatemalan photographer met Pope Francis by hazards of destiny. Details that he had invited his sister her brother -in -law to the trip, waiting for her to deliver to the book the book John Paul II, Messenger of La Pazas thanks to your support.
“I said: Look, I would like you to give the book to Pope Francis. I don’t, ”López recalled. “She insisted that it was an honor for me, but she had already had the opportunity to photograph John Paul II and be close to him. In addition, my sister and her husband had supported me in the publication of the book, so they deserved that moment, ”he explained.
As López recalled, in that act the protocols were broken, since it should be he who gave the book to the pontiff, but decided to give honor to his sister. She went to the front row, where Francisco greets the attendees from the Plaza de San Pedro, in the Vatican.
“The Pope passes by greeting one and gives them his blessing. The only recommendation that I gave my sister was to hold the book well, because Camarlengo was going to take it away. I asked him to explain to the pontiff that I had done and that I would like to receive his solidarus, ”he explained.
However, on that occasion, Ricky López Bruni’s sister failed to get Pope Francis’s solidarity, since he remembers that the emotion of the moment surpassed her.
“Being in front of the Pope, his nervousness did not allow him to say anything and the book was removed by the protocol,” said the photographer, who at that time lost hope of receiving the exchange.
He points out that, by hazards of destiny and with the phrase “when it touches you, it touches you”, in that visit he met an old friend who was an nephew of Arturo Mari, personal photographer of John Paul II for 23 years. Seeing him in line, his friend asked if he wanted to greet the Pope.
“In just 10 minutes he got two passes for the first row,” he recalled. This allowed him to enter with his brother -in -law to greet Pope Francis.
Already in the front row, López Bruni met his friend again and told him that he had nothing to give the pontiff. His friend suggested giving him the vest that wore that day, originally from Todos Santos Cuchumatán.
“He told me: ‘Give your vest, he loves to break the protocol’. Then I decided to deliver Todos Santos’s vest to the Pope, ”he said.
López recalled that when Pope Francis reached him, he explained that John Paul II enjoyed typical garments when he visited Guatemala and asked him if he would like to wear the vest for a photograph.
Meeting between Ricky López Bruni with Pope Francis in the Plaza de San Pedro. (Photo Free Press: Courtesy Ricky López Bruni)
“He had not finished saying the phrase when he was already placing the vest. We took the picture and, as expected, they took it away quickly. ”
The exchange with the Pope and the History of the Solide
While in the Plaza de San Pedro, in front of Pope Francis and in the midst of a great crowd, López Bruni went to the Pontiff and told him that, according to the Mayan tradition, when someone receives a gift they must deliver something in return.
“I said: ‘Holiness, in the Mayan tradition, when someone receives a gift must give something in return. Could you give me your Zucchetto? ‘”He added.
López said that Pope Francis’s reaction was surprise, who in turn responded with humor: “But I’m going to run out of one.”
Given this, López Bruni insisted: “No, look, the weather is cute, it’s not so cold.” That was when the Pope smiled, he consulted with Camarlengo if there was another available Zucchetto and, after receiving a new one, the one who was wearing and delivered it was removed.
“He asked me to pray for him. He spent more time talking to me than with the entire delegation of Guatemala. We talk about football and other issues, ”recalled Guatemalan photographer about that moment.
The solido as a symbol of faith and miracles
After the gift that Pope Francis offered to López Bruni, the photographer commented that he decided to give it to his sister as a present, aware that for her he had a high value in his faith.
From that moment, the religious community that knew the history of Zucchetto has asked to take it to their homes to bless his family or heal the sick, as an act of faith.
“A family met the story and asked to lend it to pray for a sick woman to whom doctors had evicted. After three days they called my sister to return the Zucchetto and told her that the woman had been discharged. The doctors could not explain what had happened, ”said López Bruni.
Solideo that Pope Francis presented Ricky López Bruni during his visit to the Vatican. (Photo Free Press: Courtesy Ricky López Bruni)
From that moment on, the object began to be requested for other cases in which, according to the photographer, Milagros have occurred thanks to the power of faith.
“At least 12 cases of people who have improved their health have been documented in an inexplicably. We are gathering all this information to send it to the Vatican, because we believe it is something important, ”he added.
THE SOLIDEO IN THE MERCED PROCESSION
Before the power and meaning of the faith that represents the Pope’s solide, the religious community decided to incorporate it into the processional journey of the image of Christ of Merced in Antigua Guatemala during Holy Week in 2015.
“The Zucchetto came out throughout the city in the back of the processional walk. He has had a very significant journey and has been an object of great spiritual value, ”said López.
El Solideo during the procession of the Christ of Merced in Antigua Guatemala of 2015.
History of López Bruni with John Paul II
The Guatemalan photographer also had an approach with Juan Pablo II during his visits to the country as Pope. Remember that his first contact was in 1996, when the Pontiff visited Guatemala for the second time.
His approach, according to López Bruni, was due to a chance. In the middle of the protocol, he found Casual with Sergio Búcaro, an organizer at that time of the papal visit and who would later become a Guatemalan ambassador to the Vatican. That meeting led him to become the official photographer of the Government of Guatemala for the occasion, without really knowing who Pope John Paul II was.
“I went to a gym and had a neighbor with whom we only exchanged greetings. One day, in the field of Mars, I saw that he was in charge of the logistics of the visit of John Paul II. We greet each other and, when asked who the photographer would be, he replied that they had no one and asked me if he wanted to be. Thus everything began, ”said López.
For the third visit of John Paul II, the photographer recalls that he failed to obtain his official government accreditation, but found another way of being close to the pontiff.
“Manolo Maldonado, director of Civil Aeronautics at that time, called me and told me that I needed a photographer on the airport track to document the arrival of the Pope. I offered immediately. When the plane landed, I was the only photographer at the foot of the stairs when John Paul II descended. ”
This experience allowed him to create a photographic book about the Pontiff, which was also given to Pope Benedict XVI and now is part of the Vatican archives.
The book on the visits of Pope John Paul II is for sale. You can acquire it by communicating at number 5528-8556 OA through the Instagram page Rickylopezbruni. (Photo Free Press: Courtesy Ricky López Bruni)