Pope Francis’ ordinary shoes bring pride to his Argentine neighborhood — and his cobbler

The man who would become Pope Francis always bought his shoes in the same small store.

- By ISABEL DEBRE

And now, the remarkably ordinary footwear that surprised and charmed millions has brought pride to his old Buenos Aires neighborhood — and his cobbler.

The simple black shoes — a stark contrast to the flashy ruby red slippers of Francis' predecessor, former Pope Benedict XVI — are among the pope's personal effects that have captured attention as his death this week triggers an outpouring of emotion around the Roman Catholic world.

The seemingly comfortable loafers offer a powerful reminder of Francis' humility, simplicity and lack of ceremony that helped him relate to ordinary people wherever he went.

A third-generation cobbler

The Muglia family men were the first cobblers in the middle-class Flores neighborhood of western Buenos Aires. Their shop, Muglia Shoes, opened in 1945, just a few years after Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Italian immigrant parents.

There wasn't much competition, so when a young Bergoglio came in to buy shoes, it was Juan Jose Muglia's grandfather who sold him the first pair. Bergoglio was in his 20s then, serving as a Jesuit priest at the Basilica of San José de Flores just around the block.

"My father, my grandfather, they told me stories about how Father Jorge came from the church around the corner to buy these shoes, they were the ones he liked, he wore them all the time," Muglia, 52, told The Associated Press on Thursday.