Pope's Argentine nephew sponsored to travel to funeral
A nephew of Pope Francis in Argentina has said that a private donor paid for him to travel to his uncle's funeral after the government failed to invite him to join officials travelling to the Vatican.
Mauro Bergoglio, son of the pontiff's late brother Oscar Bergoglio, said that he was offered tickets for him and his partner by a businesswoman who had heard him tell Argentinian television that he could not afford the trip.
"I never asked for a favour; it was offered to me, and the truth is that I accepted because it was the only chance I had to say goodbye," Mr Bergoglio, a nurse by profession, told Radio Mitre from Rome.
Argentine President Javier Milei is to travel to Rome with six members of his government, but no family member of the pope, who was born as Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires.
The seeming oversight elicited criticism from the political opposition and social media users.
Argentina's secretary of religion, Nahuel Sotelo, replied on X that he had spoken to the Pope's nephew, who ruled out traveling to Rome.
It turned out that he was referring to a different nephew - the son of the pontiff's last surviving sibling, Maria Elena Bergoglio.
Mauro's sister, Vanesa, reportedly wrote on X that her brother had "truly wanted to be there" for the funeral of "our last uncle".
"We are not media personalities, we are workers, and like most people, we barely make it to the end of the month," she said in the message quoted by local media before she restricted access to her account.
"I am grateful to the media for allowing him to make that trip," she added, referring to the TV programme that drew attention to his plight.
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