As the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, a very touching story from his youth is gaining attention.

Before the Vatican and his role as a global leader, there was a young boy named Jorge, who once had a crush on a girl named Amalia Damonte.

Escaped the fascists in Italy

Before dedicating his life to the church and eventually becoming the 266th pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, known later as Pope Francis, lived a pretty normal life in the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Born in 1936 into a middle-class family of seven, his father worked as a railway employee, and his mother was a homemaker.

Bergoglio’s parents were Italian immigrants who left Italy in 1929 to escape the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini, Jorge’s family sought a new life in Argentina, not out of economic hardship, but to escape political turmoil.

According to his only living sibling, María Elena Bergoglio, their decision to emigrate was driven by a desire to escape the oppressive regime in Italy.

The immigrant experience, rooted in resilience and survival, shaped Jorge’s early years and influenced the values he would carry with him throughout his life. At 32, he became a priest, a decision that came nearly a decade after he lost a lung to a respiratory illness and abandoned his chemistry studies.

His sister shared the truth

According to his sister, Jorge was a ”normal teenager.” He was polite, studious, and had a particular interest in chemistry.

He was friendly and very protective of her, especially since she was the youngest. In his free time, he loved playing football with his friends in the neighborhood. As he got older, he developed a passion for tango.

Another thing Jorge seems to have developed was a crush on a girl named Amalia Damonte, who lived next door. What started as a simple friendship quickly turned into something deeper, and young Jorge even wrote Amalia a letter around 1948, asking her to marry him.

“He was a big, mature, wonderful boy,” she told Argentine media. “We danced, played on the sidewalks, and spent time in the parks. It was such a beautiful time. We were both humble and cared for the poor. In that sense, we were kindred spirits.”

Amalia, who lived just a few doors away from Jorge, has often reminisced about their time together in interviews following his election as Pope in 2013.

Amalia vividly remembered, “I remember perfectly that he had drawn me a little white house, which had a red roof, and it said, ‘This is what I’ll buy when we marry.’”

Short-lived romance

Sadly, their innocent romance was short-lived. Amalia’s strict parents disapproved of the relationship and forbade her from seeing or writing to Jorge.

”’There was only one letter and it cost me a smack in the face from my father,” Amalia said in 2013, according to Daily Mail.

Amalia reflected, ”These were childish things, nothing more,” but as mentioned, her parents didn’t see it the same way. Her father spanked her, and her mother confronted her directly.

”My mom broke it off. Good Lord. She came to get me at school and said, ‘So, you’re getting letters from a boy?!’” Amalia recalled. From that moment on, her parents took strict measures to keep them apart.

”My parents pulled me away completely. From that point on, they did everything possible to separate us,” she added. “What I wanted was for him to disappear from the map!”

Amalia and Jorge Bergoglio lost touch for a while, and months later, Jorge entered the seminary, fulfilling the vow he had made in his letter.

Had a crush on another girl

In a 2010 interview, Pope Francis also revealed that he once had a girlfriend with whom he enjoyed dancing the tango, something that likely wasn’t typical for a 12-year-old. He shared, ”She was one of a group of friends with whom I used to go dancing with.” He then went on to say, ”Then I discovered my religious vocation.”

Pope Francis himself has shared that on his way to celebrate Spring Day, he passed by a church to go to confession and found inspiration in a priest. However, he also admitted that, as a young seminarian, he once had a crush on another girl and briefly questioned his decision to pursue the priesthood.

“I was dazzled by a girl I met at an uncle’s wedding,” he said, according to Aleteia. “I was surprised by her beauty, her intellectual brilliance … and, well, I was bowled over for quite a while.”

“I kept thinking and thinking about her. When I returned to the seminary after the wedding, I could not pray for over a week because when I tried to do so, the girl appeared in my head. I had to rethink what I was doing.”

In the end, Bergoglio chose the priesthood, but he acknowledged that not everyone would make the same decision.

“When something like this happens to a seminarian, I help him go in peace to be a good Christian and not a bad priest,” Bergoglio said.

The 88-year-old Pope Francis died on Monday, April 21 after months of speculation relating to his ill-health. According to reports, he ultimately succumbed to a cerebral stroke, which led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.

Preparations for the pope’s burial are well underway, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday at St. Peter’s.