The Encounter with a Prostitute that taught Pope Francis the Essence of Treating every Human Being with Dignity and Mercy

Recalling a heartwarming memory about a prostitute and writing about it in the sixth chapter of his newly released book “The Name of God is Mercy” published on Jan. 12th  talks about Pope Francis’ vision of Compassion,Forgiveness and Merciful love.
Writing about the memory,he said:
During his time at the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, he came across a young mother with children who had been forsaken by her husband.
She had no steady means of livelihood. When there was nothing more to do, she would lower herself to the position of a call girl just to feed and sustain her children. She would often visit the local parish that helped put food on the table at that time too.
One time during the Christmas season the young woman visited and asked to see Father Jorge Bergoglio the parish priest at that time. He figured she came to show appreciation for the package of food the parish had given to her.
“Did you receive it?” Fr. Bergoglio had asked her.
“Yes, yes, thank you for that, too,” the mother explained. “But I came here today to thank you because you never stopped calling me Señora.”
This experience with the young mother greatly had a huge impact on Pope Francis, who said it taught him the essence of treating every human being with dignity, mercy and compassion no matter the circumstance.
“Experiences like this teach you how important it is to welcome people delicately and not wound their dignity,” Pope Francis said in the book.
“For her, the fact that the parish priest continued to call her Señora, even though he probably knew how she led her life during the months when she could not work, was as important – or perhaps even more important than – the concrete help that we gave her,” the Holy Father continued.
The book came as a result of series of interviews between Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli and Pope Francis. Tornielli compiled the interview filled with curiosity because she wanted to know Pope Francis’ personal views on Mercy and Forgiveness.  With the numerous stories told throughout the interview, such as the heart-warming experience with the prostitute, Pope Francis disclosed that the ultimate goal  for every man and woman is not that they should never fall – but rather that they should always get back up.
In his book, Pope Francis also shared his thoughts on confession, his hopes for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and how to be open to God’s mercy.