Juana Casanova, a very beloved neighbor of the town of Haría, has received a very special letter that she did not expect at all. The letter comes from Pope Francis, who in a letter dated in the Vatican on November 18 wrote in his own handwriting to Juana, who is 96 years old.
The elderly woman has lost her sight, but neither that disability nor her advanced age prevent her from continuing the work she has been doing for more than eight decades in the municipality, since she was 14 years old: giving catechism. This action was communicated to the Pope through an email and he did not hesitate to answer the message. "You know how to see with the eyes of the heart. Please, don't even think about retiring," the pontiff tells her, encouraging her to continue her mission.
The idea of making the Holy Father aware of the role Juana plays in the parish of the Incarnation of Haría came from the parish priest of the municipality, Norberto Antonio Medina Díaz, on the occasion of the tribute that was offered to Juana in the church on November 25 in gratitude for her work.
The Pope addresses the honoree as "Juanita": "You know that there are people who like to give good news. And some of these people told me about you, about your work in the parish, your work as a catechist," he begins in his writing.
The person Francisco is referring to is Father Norberto, who in the email he sent to the Pope through the priest Javier Sánchez, who spends his summers in Lanzarote for some time and knows Juana very well, told him the story of the well-known catechist from Haría.
For Juana, the Pope's words have been "a very great recognition. I never thought he would remember this little girl who is in Lanzarote, hidden away here. Catechesis is my thing. My teacher took me when I was little, I wasn't even a woman. I had to lead a group and I have continued. I am still giving with a partner in awakening parents. I do it with great enthusiasm, but it is the Lord who gives me this strength," she says in statements this Thursday to LA PROVINCIA.
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