Pope was a person full of respect: Swiss president

Keller-Sutter: Pope was a person full of respect Keystone-SDA

Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter, who is attending the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, says the pontiff was always full of respect.

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‘The pope, no matter who he was, has always had an important place in my family,’ Keller-Sutter told the Tamedia newspaper group. That is why she is happy to travel to Rome to bid farewell to Francis.

Keller-Sutter, who grew up in the Catholic faith, was impressed by the way the pontiff carried out his task. “This also meant making sacrifices”. Jorge Mario Bergoglio has “lived it to the full”.

Keller-Sutter met him in 2019 on the occasion of the canonisation of Marguerite Bays. “He was very warm,” she recalled in the interview. Bays’ canonisation was one of five that took place that day – four of which were of women. “I said to Pope Francis: evidently women are not all that bad. He took it with humour.”

It is a Keller-Sutter family tradition to attend the Pope’s blessing at Christmas and Easter. “You could see that he pronounced the blessing with his last strength,” she said.

Despite the sadness, it was nice that he died at Easter, the feast of the resurrection, Keller-Sutter added.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/mga

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