Pope Francis: Amalia, the childhood sweetheart whose snub created a pope I didn't want him to become Pope because he's going to be very far away and second because it is such a large responsibility. "But I am also totally proud that he is the new Pope - because he's the first from outside Europe, because he's Latin American, he's Argentine and he"s my brother." She conceded that "having a brother who is a pope is a blessing from God," adding: "It's a historic moment - he's the first non-European pope, the first Latin American and the first Argentinian and it falls to him, my brother." From what she had seen of his own reaction to the news on television, he also seemed pleased, she said. "The expression on his face spoke of a fullness of heart," she said. Miss Bergoglio said that she never knew anything about his young love life. However on Thursday, speaking from her home in Flores, an emotional Amalia said that the "romance" did not prosper because of the opposition of her parents. When we were young, he wrote me a letter and I didn't reply to him. What I wanted was for him to disappear from the map. My father had hit me because I had dared to write a note to a boy. He had drawn for me (in the letter) a house which had a red roof and said that it was the house he was going to buy for me when we were married. I never saw him after that - my parents kept me away from him and did everything possible to separate us. Amalia added: "I have nothing to hide, as it was a thing between children and totally pure.