Pope Francis
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| Francis | |
|---|---|
 Pope Francis in March 2013 |
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| Papacy began | 13 March 2013 |
| Predecessor | Benedict XVI |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 13 December 1969 by Ramón José Castellano |
| Consecration | 27 June 1992 by Antonio Quarracino |
| Created Cardinal | 21 February 2001 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Jorge Mario Bergoglio |
| Born | 17 December 1936 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Nationality | Argentine with Vatican citizenship |
| Previous post | Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina (1973-1979) Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires (1992–1997) Titular Bishop of Auca (1992–1997) Archbishop of Buenos Aires (1998–2013) Cardinal-Priest of St. Roberto Bellarmino (2001–2013) Ordinary of the Ordinariate for the Faithful of the Eastern Rites in Argentina (1998–2013) President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (2005–2011) |
| Motto | Miserando atque Eligendo[a] |
| Coat of arms |  |
A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was ordained as a priest in 1969. He served as head of the Society of Jesus in Argentina from 1973 to 1979. In 1998 he became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and in 2001 a cardinal. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, on 28 February 2013, the conclave elected Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Francis in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. He is the first pope to be a Jesuit, the first pope to come from the Americas, and the first pope to come from the Southern Hemisphere.
Early life
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Flores,[2] Buenos Aires City, one of the five children of Mario José Bergoglio, an Italian immigrant railway worker born in Portacomaro (Province of Asti) in Italy's Piedmont region, and his wife Regina María Sívori,[3] a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.[4][5][6][7][8] Bergoglio's sister María Elena told reporters decades later that her father often said that "the advent of fascism was the reason that really pushed him to leave" Italy. She is the pope's only living sibling.[9]Bergoglio has been a supporter of the San Lorenzo de Almagro football club since his childhood.[10][11] Bergoglio is also a fan of the films of Tita Merello and of neorealism and of tango dancing, with an "intense fondness" for the traditional music of Argentina and Uruguay known as the milonga.[12]
He graduated from the technical secondary school Escuela Nacional de Educación Técnica N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen[13] with a chemical technician's diploma.[14] He worked for a few years in that capacity in the foods section at Hickethier-Bachmann Laboratory.[15] According to some sources, he earned a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires.[16][17] In the only known health crisis of his youth, at the age of 21 he suffered from life-threatening pneumonia and cysts and had part of a lung removed shortly afterwards.[13][18]
Bergoglio is conversant in Spanish, Latin, Italian, German,[19] French,[20] and English.[21]
Pre-papal career
Jesuit
| Ordination history of Pope Francis | |
|---|---|
| Priestly ordination | |
| Ordained by | Ramón José Castellano |
| Date of ordination | 13 December 1969 |
| Episcopal consecration | |
| Principal consecrator | Antonio Quarracino[22] |
| Co-consecrator | Ubaldo Calabresi |
| Co-consecrator | Emilio Ogñénovich |
| Date of consecration | 27 June 1992 |
| Cardinalate | |
| Date elevated to cardinal | 21 February 2001 |
| Bishops consecrated by Pope Francis as principal consecrator | |
| Horacio Ernesto Benites Astoul[23] | 1 May 1999 |
| Jorge Rubén Lugones | 30 July 1999 |
| Jorge Eduardo Lozano | 25 March 2000 |
| Joaquín Mariano Sucunza | 21 October 2000 |
| José Antonio Gentico | 28 April 2001 |
| Fernando Carlos Maletti | 18 September 2001 |
| Andrés Stanovnik | 16 December 2001 |
| Mario Aurelio Poli | 20 April 2002 |
| Eduardo Horacio García | 16 August 2003 |
| Adolfo Armando Uriona | 8 May 2004 |
| Eduardo Maria Taussig | 25 September 2004 |
| Raúl Martín | 20 May 2006 |
| Hugo Manuel Salaberry Goyeneche | 21 August 2006 |
| Óscar Vicente Ojea Quintana | 2 September 2006 |
| Hugo Nicolás Barbaro | 4 July 2008 |
| Enrique Eguía Seguí | 11 October 2008 |
| Ariel Edgardo Torrado Mosconi | 13 December 2008 |
| Luis Alberto Fernández | 27 March 2009 |
| Vicente Bkalic Iglic | 29 May 2010 |
| Alfredo Horacio Zecca | 17 September 2011 |
In 1967, Bergoglio finished his theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood on 13 December 1969, by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He attended the Facultades de Filosofía y Teología de San Miguel (Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel),[26] a seminary in San Miguel. He served as the Master of novices for the Province there and became a professor of theology.
Father Bergoglio completed his final stage of spiritual formation as a Jesuit, tertianship, at Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and took his perpetual vows in the Society of Jesus on 22 April 1973.[27] He was named Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina on 31 July 1973 and served until 1979.[28] After the completion of his term of office, in 1980 he was named the rector of the seminary in San Miguel (it is unclear which one), and served in that capacity until 1986. He spent several months at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany, while considering possible dissertation topics,[29] before returning to Argentina to serve as a confessor and spiritual director to the Jesuit community in Córdoba.[30] In Germany he saw the painting Mary Untier of Knots in Augsburg and brought a copy of the painting to Argentina where it has become an important Marian devotion.[31] It has since spread to Brazil; according to Regina Novaes of the Institute of Religious Studies in Rio de Janeiro, this devotion "attracts people with small problems".[32] He had an image of Mary Untier of Knots inscribed on a chalice he presented to Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.[33]
Episcopacy
Bergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and was ordained on 27 June 1992 as Titular Bishop of Auca,[34] with Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving as principal consecrator.[22] On 3 June 1997, Bergoglio was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires with right of automatic succession.[23] His episcopal motto was Miserando atque eligendo.[35] It is drawn from Bede's homily on Matthew 9:9-13: 'because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him' [36]Upon Quarracino's death on 28 February 1998, Bergoglio became Archbishop and was concurrently named ordinary for those Eastern Catholics in Argentina who lacked a prelate of their own rite.[22] As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio created new parishes and restructured the archdiocese administrative offices, led pro-life initiatives, and created a commission on divorces.[37]
According to Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, before becoming a bishop Bergoglio was mentored by Salesian Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Stefan Czmil and while at the Salesian school, often woke up hours before his classmates so that he could concelebrate Mass with Czmil.[38] Shevchuk states that Bergoglio understands the liturgy, rites, and spirituality of the Greek Catholic Church, and always "took care of our Church in Argentina" as ordinary for Eastern Catholics during his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.[38]
In 2000, according to a report in L'espresso, Bergoglio "asked the entire Church in Argentina to put on garments of public penance for the sins committed during the years of the dictatorship".[39]
In 2007, just two days after Benedict XVI issued new rules for using the liturgical forms that preceded the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Bergoglio was one of the first bishops in the world to respond by instituting a Tridentine Mass in Buenos Aires.[40][41] It was celebrated weekly.[42]
On 8 November 2005, Bergoglio was elected president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference for a three-year term (2005–08) by a large majority of the Argentine bishops. He was reelected to another three-year term on 11 November 2008.[citation needed] He remained a member of that Commission's permanent governing body, president of its committee for the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, and a member of its liturgy committee for the care of shrines.[22]
According to The Washington Post, "In one of his last acts as head of the Argentine Catholic bishops' conference, ... Bergoglio issued a collective apology for the church's failure to protect its flock" from Argentina's military dictatorship decades earlier.[43]
Cardinal
At the consistory of 21 February 2001, Archbishop Bergoglio was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II with the title of cardinal-priest of San Roberto Bellarmino. When he traveled to Rome for the ceremony, he and his sister Maria Elena visited the village in northern Italy where their father was born.[9]As cardinal, Bergoglio was appointed to five administrative positions in the Roman Curia:
- Member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
- Member of the Congregation for the Clergy
- Member of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
- Member of the Pontifical Council for the Family
- Member of the Commission for Latin America
Later that year, when Cardinal Edward Egan returned to New York following the September 11 attacks, Bergoglio replaced him as relator (recording secretary) in the Synod of Bishops and, according to The Catholic Herald, created "a favourable impression as a man open to communion and dialogue".[44][45]
Cardinal Bergoglio became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice.[46] A simple lifestyle contributed to his reputation for humility. He lived in a small apartment, rather than in the elegant bishop's residence in the suburb of Olivos. He took public transportation and cooked his own meals.[47] He limited his time in Rome to "lightning visits".[48]
On the death of Pope John Paul II, Bergoglio was considered one of the papabile cardinals.[49] He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. In the National Catholic Reporter John L. Allen, Jr. reported that Bergoglio was a frontrunner in the 2005 Conclave.[46][50] In September 2005, the Italian magazine Limes published claims that Bergoglio had been the runner-up and main challenger to Cardinal Ratzinger at that conclave and that he had received 40 votes in the third ballot, but fell back to 26 at the fourth and decisive ballot.[51][52] The claims were based on a diary purportedly belonging to an anonymous cardinal who had been present at the conclave.[51] La Stampa reported that Bergoglio was in close contention with Ratzinger during the election, until he made an emotional plea that the cardinals should not vote for him.[53] Earlier, he had participated in the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
During the 2005 Synod of Bishops, he was elected a member of the post-synodal council.[citation needed]
As a cardinal, Bergoglio was associated with Communion and Liberation, a conservative Catholic association of the faithful.[46][54] He has sometimes spoken at its annual mass gathering in Rimini, Italy.[46]
Relations with Argentine governments
As provincial
Bergoglio has been the subject of allegations regarding the kidnapping of two priests by the military during Argentina's Dirty War in 1976, whom he had dismissed just prior to their disappearance.[55][56] In 2005, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Bergoglio, as superior in the Society of Jesus of Argentina, accusing him of involvement in the kidnapping by the Navy in May 1976 of the two Jesuit priests.[57] The lawyer's complaint did not specify the nature of Bergoglio's alleged involvement, and Bergoglio's spokesman flatly denied the allegations. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.[55] The priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics, had been tortured,[58] but found alive five months later, drugged and semi-naked. Yorio accused Bergoglio of effectively handing them over to the death squads by declining to tell the regime that he endorsed their work. Yorio (who died in 2000) said in a 1999 interview that he believed that Bergoglio did nothing "to free us, in fact just the opposite".[59] Jalics initially refused to discuss the complaint after moving into seclusion in a German monastery.[60] However, after the election of Pope Francis, Jalics issued a statement confirming the kidnapping and attributing the cause to a former lay colleague who became a guerrilla, was captured, and named Yorio and Jalics when interrogated.[61] Jalics further stated: "I can not comment on the role of P. Bergoglio in these processes". Father Jalics has publicly reconciled with Bergoglio and considers the matter closed.[62] Alicia Oliveira, a former Argentine Judge, states that she has known Bergoglio for decades, and that during the "Dirty War" the future Pope "was anguished" and "very critical of the dictatorship".[63] Oliveira met with him at the time and urged Bergoglio to speak out — he told her that "he couldn't. That it wasn't an easy thing to do."[59]Bergoglio told his authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin, that after the priests' imprisonment he worked behind the scenes for their release; Bergoglio's intercession with dictator Jorge Rafael Videla on their behalf may have saved their lives.[64] In 2010, Bergoglio told Sergio Rubin that he had often sheltered people from the dictatorship on church property, and once gave his own identity papers to a man who looked like him, so he could flee Argentina.[58] The interview with Rubin, reflected in the biography El jesuita, is the only time when Bergoglio spoke with the press about those events.[65]
The artist and human rights activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, said: "Perhaps he didn't have the courage of other priests, but he never collaborated with the dictatorship ... Bergoglio was no accomplice of the dictatorship." [66][67] Graciela Fernández Meijide, member of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, also said that there was no proof linking Bergoglio with the dictatorship. She told Clarín: "There is no information and Justice couldn't prove it. I was in the APDH during all the dictatorship years and I received hundreds of testimonies. Bergoglio was never mentioned. It was the same in the CONADEP. Nobody mentioned him as instigator or as anything."[68]
As bishop
When Bergoglio celebrated Mass in 2004 at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral to mark Argentina's First National Government holiday, then President Néstor Kirchner attended and heard Bergoglio request more political dialogue, reject intolerance, and criticize exhibitionism and strident announcements.[69] Kirchner celebrated the national day elsewhere the following year and the Mass in the Cathedral was suspended.[70] Kirchner considered Bergoglio as a political rival ever since.[71] Bergoglio's relations with Kirchner's widow and successor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, have been similarly tense. In 2008, Bergoglio called for national reconciliation during disturbances in the country's agricultural regions, which the government interpreted as a support for anti-government demonstrators.[71] The campaign to enact same-sex marriage legislation was a particularly tense period in their relations.[71] In 2006 Bergoglio publicly opposed an attempt by the Argentine government to legalize some cases of abortion.[72] During his time as archbishop, Cristina Fernández rejected 14 requests for meetings by Bergoglio.[73]
As cardinal
In 2012, Bergoglio said that the British Overseas Territory, the Falkland Islands, whose sovereignty is disputed by Argentina and Britain, "belong to Argentina."[74] He said that the islands were "usurped" by the British.[75] Following Bergoglio's ascension to the papacy, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he "respectfully" disagreed with these views expressed in the past, and that the wish of the people of the islands to remain a British Overseas Territory as shown in the March 2013 referendum should be respected by everyone.[76]As pope
In her first meeting with Francis after he became pope Argentine President Fernández asked him to mediate the Falklands dispute.[77] The British Foreign Office later issued a short statement saying that the dispute over the Falklands was a political matter involving two sovereign nations, in which the Holy See "does not have a role to play."[78]Relations with other religious communities
Evangelical Protestant community
Evangelical leaders including Argentine Luis Palau, who moved to the US in his twenties, have welcomed the news of Bergoglio's election as Pope based on his relations with Evangelical Protestants, noting that Bergoglio's financial manager for the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires was an Evangelical Christian whom Bergoglio refers to as a friend.[79] Palau recounts how Bergoglio would not only relax and "drink mate" with that friend, but would also read the Bible and pray with him, based on what Bergoglio called a relationship of friendship and trust.[79] Palau describes Bergoglio's approach to relationships with Evangelicals as one of "building bridges and showing respect, knowing the differences, but majoring on what we can agree on: on the divinity of Jesus, his virgin birth, his resurrection, the second coming."[79] As a result of Bergoglio's election, Palau predicts that "tensions will be eased."[79]Juan Pablo Bongarrá, president of the Argentine Bible Society, recounts that Bergoglio not only met with Evangelicals, and prayed with them—but he also asked them to pray for him.[80] Bongarrá notes that Bergoglio would frequently end a conversation with the request, "Pastor, pray for me."[80] Additionally, Bongarrá tells the story of a weekly worship meeting of charismatic pastors in Buenos Aires, which Bergoglio attended: "He mounted the platform and called for pastors to pray for him. He knelt in front of nearly 6,000 people, and [the Protestant leaders there] laid hands and prayed."[80]
Other Evangelical leaders agree that Bergoglio's relationships in Argentina make him "situated to better understand Protestantism".[81] Noting that the divide between Catholicism and Protestantism is often present among members of the same families in Argentina, and is therefore an extremely important human issue, "Francis could set the tone for more compassionate conversations among families about the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism."[81]
Other Christian communities
Gregory Venables, Anglican Bishop of Argentina, has called Bergoglio a "devout Christian and friend to Anglicans".[82] Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) greeted the news of Bergoglio's election with a public statement that praised his work with Lutherans in Argentina.[83]Bergoglio is also known for his efforts "to further close the nearly 1,000-year estrangement with the Orthodox churches".[84] Antoni Sevruk, rector of the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome, said that Bergoglio "often visited Orthodox services in the Russian Orthodox Annunciation Cathedral in Buenos Aires" and is known as an advocate on behalf the Orthodox Church in dealing with Argentina's government.[85]
Jewish community
Bergoglio has close ties to the Jewish community of Argentina, and attended Jewish Rosh Hashanah services in 2007 at a synagogue in Buenos Aires.[86] The Catholic Zenit News Agency reported that Bergoglio told the Jewish congregation during his visit that he went to the synagogue to examine his heart, "like a pilgrim, together with you, my elder brothers."[86]After the 1994 AMIA bombing in that city, a terrorist attack to a Jewish Community Center which killed 85 people, Bergoglio was the first public personality to sign a petition condemning the attack and calling for justice.[86] Jewish community leaders around the world noted that his words and actions "showed solidarity with the Jewish community" in the aftermath of this attack.[86]
A former head of the World Jewish Congress, Israel Singer, reported that he worked with Bergoglio in the early 2000s, distributing aid to the poor as part of a joint Jewish-Catholic program called "Tzedaka".[86] Singer notes that he was impressed with Bergoglio's modesty, remembering that "if everyone sat in chairs with handles [arms], he would sit in the one without."[86] Bergoglio's numerous other actions in support of the Jewish community included his co-hosting a Kristallnacht memorial ceremony at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral in 2012.[86]
Abraham Skorka, the rector of the Latin-American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, and Bergoglio published their conversations on religious and philosophical subjects as Sobre el cielo y la tierra (Between Heaven and Earth).[87] An article in Israel's The Jerusalem Post notes that "Unlike John Paul II, who as a child had positive memories of the Jews of his native Poland but due to the Holocaust had no Jewish community to interact with in Poland as an adult, Pope Francis has maintained a sustained and very positive relationship with a living, breathing [Jewish] community in Buenos Aires."[87]
Bergoglio joined a group of clerics from a number of different religions to light candles in a 2012 synagogue ceremony on the occasion of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.[88]
Islamic community
Leaders of the Islamic community in Buenos Aires welcomed the news of Bergoglio's election as pope, noting that he "always showed himself as a friend of the Islamic community", and a person whose position is "pro-dialogue".[89]Buenos Aires Islamic leaders praise Bergoglio's close ties with the Islamic community by citing his reactions to a 2005 incident when Pope Benedict XVI quoted a medieval document that described Muhammad as "evil and inhuman".[90] According to them, Bergoglio immediately distanced himself from the quotes, noting that statements that create outrage within the Islamic community "will serve to destroy in 20 seconds the careful construction of a relationship with Islam that Pope John Paul II built over the last 20 years.”[90]
Bergoglio visited both a mosque and an Islamic school in Argentina, visits that Sheik Mohsen Ali, the Director for the Diffusion of Islam, called actions that strengthened the relationship between the Catholic and Islamic communities.[89] Dr. Sumer Noufouri, Secretary General of the Islamic Center of the Argentine Republic (CIRA), added that Bergoglio's past actions make his election as pope a cause within the Islamic community of "joy and expectation of strengthening dialogue between religions".[89] Noufouri said that the relationship between CIRA and Bergoglio over the course of a decade had helped to build up Christian-Muslim dialogue in a way that was "really significant in the history of monotheistic relations in Argentina".[89]
Interfaith dialogue
Bergoglio has also written about his commitment to open and respectful interfaith dialogue as a way for all parties engaged in that dialogue to learn from one another.[91] In the 2011 book that records his conversations with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Sobre el cielo y la tierra, Bergoglio said:[91]Religious leaders in Buenos Aires have stated that it was Bergoglio who "opened up the Cathedral in Buenos Aires for interfaith ceremonies".[92] For example, in November 2012 he brought "leaders of the Jewish, Muslim, evangelical, and Orthodox Christian faiths" together in the Cathedral to pray for peace in the Middle East.[92] Leaders quoted in a 2013 Associated Press article said that Bergoglio has a "very deep capacity for dialogue with other religions," and considers "healing divisions between religions a major part of the Catholic Church's mission."[92]Dialogue is born from an attitude of respect for the other person, from a conviction that the other person has something good to say. It assumes that there is room in the heart for the person’s point of view, opinion, and proposal. To dialogue entails a cordial reception, not a prior condemnation. In order to dialogue it is necessary to know how to lower the defenses, open the doors of the house, and offer human warmth.
Papacy
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| This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Holy See |
Election to the papacy
Main article: Papal conclave, 2013
Bergoglio was elected pope on 13 March 2013,[96][97] the second day of the 2013 papal conclave, taking the papal name Francis.[98] Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of the conclave.[99] The Habemus Papam was delivered by Cardinal protodeacon Jean-Louis Tauran.[100]
During his first appearance as pontiff on the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica, he wore a white cassock, not the red, ermine-trimmed mozzetta[101][103] used by the previous Pope Benedict XVI.[104] He also wore the same iron pectoral cross that he had worn as Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the gold one worn by his predecessors.[103]
After being elected and choosing his name, his first act was bestowing the Urbi et Orbi blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. Francis began with "Buonasera" ("good evening"), breaking with the traditional formality at this event. Before blessing the pilgrims, he asked those in St. Peter's Square to pray for the pope emeritus, Benedict XVI and for himself.[105][106]
Choice of name
At his first audience on 16 March 2013, Francis told journalists that he had chosen the name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, and had done so because he was especially concerned for the well-being of the poor.[107][108][109]
He explained that, as it was becoming clear during the conclave voting that he would be elected the new pontiff, the Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes had embraced him and whispered "don't forget the poor", which had made him think of the saint.[110][111] Author and Vatican reporter John Allen remarked that the choice of the name Francis sent a clear message to the Church about the new Pope's intention to let "the church of the spirit, a humble and simple community of equals with a special love for the least of this world.... shine through."[112] This is the first time that a pope has been named "Francis"[c] and the first time since Pope Lando's 913–914 reign that a serving pope held a name unused by a predecessor.[d]
Francis also mentioned at the audience that some cardinal-electors had jokingly suggested to him that he should choose either "Adrian", since Pope Adrian VI had been a reformer of the church, or "Clement" as "payback" to Pope Clement XIV who had suppressed the Jesuit order.[115][116]
Health
Pope Francis, elected at the age of 76, is reported to be in good health due to his austere and healthy lifestyle. Physicians say that his missing lung tissue (which was removed in 1957)[13] does not have a significant impact on his health.[117] The only concern would be decreased respiratory reserve if he had a respiratory infection.[118]An attack of sciatica in 2007 prevented him from attending a consistory and delayed his return to Argentina for several days.[48]
Curia
On 16 March 2013, Pope Francis asked all those in senior positions of the Curia to "provisionally continue" in office "until other provisions are made".[119]Inauguration
Pope Francis celebrated his inauguration with a Mass in Saint Peter's Square on 19 March 2013, the theme of which was protection. Highlighting the role played by Saint Joseph as protector of the Holy family and the Church, and Saint Francis's dedication to the poor, he told those gathered for the ceremony the role of protector was not just a Christian one. He called on "all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life" to be protectors of creation, urging world leaders to focus on the protection of the environment, children, the elderly and those in need.The Mass, attended by 200,000 people, was shorter and different in style than previous papal inaugurations. Instead of all cardinals just six representing them declared their obedience to the new pontiff.[120] Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended, the first time the spiritual head of Orthodox Christians has attended such a ceremony since 1054.[121]
Titles and styles
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Coat of arms of Pope Francis as Cardinal (left) and as Pope (right). The gold star represents the Virgin Mary, the grape-like plant – the spikenard – is associated with Saint Joseph and the IHS emblem is the symbol of the Jesuits[122][123][124]
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| Papal styles of Pope Francis |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
The official style of the Pope in English is His Holiness Pope Francis; in Latin, Franciscus, Episcopus Romae. Holy Father is another honorific often used for popes.
His full title, rarely used, is: His Holiness Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God.
Teachings
Encountering Jesus and rejecting worldliness
In both his first homily as Pope and in his first address to the cardinals, Francis talked about walking in the presence of Jesus Christ and stressed the church mission to announce him. In the audience with the cardinals, he emphasized the concept of "encounter with Jesus":In his homily, he stressed that "if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord." He went on to teach that "When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil... when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly".[126]Stimulated by the Year of Faith, all together, pastors and faithful, we will make an effort to respond faithfully to the eternal mission: to bring Jesus Christ to humanity, and to lead humanity to an encounter with Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life, truly present in the Church and, at the same time, in every person. This encounter makes us become new men in the mystery of Grace, provoking in our hearts the Christian joy that is a hundredfold that given us by Christ to those who welcome Him into their lives.[125]
The theme of rejecting "spiritual worldliness", has been described as a "leitmotif" of his teachings even before he became Pope.[127] Understanding this worldliness as "putting oneself at the center", he said that it is the "greatest danger for the Church, for us, who are in the Church".[128]
Morality as response to God's mercy
Bergoglio views morality in the context of an encounter with Christ. This encounter is "triggered" by mercy, and the "privileged locus of the encounter is the caress of the mercy of Jesus Christ on my sin." And thus, he says, a new morality—a correspondence to mercy—is born. He views this morality as a "revolution": it is "not a titanic effort of the will", but "simply a response" to a "surprising, unforeseeable, and 'unjust' mercy". It is "not a 'never falling down' but an 'always getting up again.'"[129]He told his biographers that he changed his life when, at 17 years of age, he started a day of student celebrations by going to confession. "A strange thing happened to me...It was a surprise, the astonishment of an encounter...This is the religious experience: the astonishment of encountering someone who was waiting for you... God is the one who seeks us first."[130]
Responding to Jesus' mercy is also found in his papal motto: Miserando atque eligendo. The phrase is taken from a homily of St. Bede, who commented that Jesus "saw [St. Matthew] the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said to him: 'Follow me'" (italics added to refer to English translation of the Latin motto).[36] Coincidentally the Gospel reading for the Sunday he was scheduled to give his first public address was on Jesus' forgiveness of the adulteress woman. This allowed him to discuss ideas such as: God never wearies of forgiving us; hearing the word mercy, this word changes everything; mercy is beautiful; never tire in asking for forgiveness.[131]
Creative transformation in evangelization
Another theme Pope Francis emphasized in his first address to the cardinals is the new evangelization. He talked about "the certainty that the Holy Spirit gives His Church, with His powerful breath, the courage to persevere and to search for new ways to evangelise."It is a theme he has repeated in other occasions, specifically in his biography, where he spoke about "transforming pastoral modes" and "revising the internal life of the church so as to go out to the faithful people of God," with "great creativity." He observed that church cannot be passively waiting for clientele among people who are no longer evangelized and who "will not get near structures and old forms that do not respond to their expectations and sensibilities." He asked for pastoral conversion from a church that regulates the faith to a church that transmits and facilitates the faith.[130]
He said that the heart of the mission is summarized in this: "if one remains in the Lord one goes out of oneself... Fidelity is always a change, a blossoming, a growth." Key to evangelization is the role of the laity who should avoid the "problem" of being clericalized as their "baptism alone should suffice".[132]
Poverty and economic inequality
At a meeting of Latin American bishops in 2007 Bergoglio said "[w]e live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most, yet reduced misery the least" and that "[t]he unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers".[133] On 30 September 2009, Bergoglio spoke at a conference organized by the Argentina City Postgraduate School (EPOCA) at the Alvear Palace Hotel titled "Las deudas sociales de nuestro tiempo" ("The Social Debts of Our Time") in which he quoted the 1992 "Documento de Santo Domingo"[134] by the Latin American Episcopal Conference, saying "extreme poverty and unjust economic structures that cause great inequalities" are violations of human rights.[135][136] He went on to describe social debt as "immoral, unjust and illegitimate".[137]During a 48-hour public servant strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio observed the differences between "poor people who are persecuted for demanding work, and rich people who are applauded for fleeing from justice".[138] In 2002, during an economic crisis, Bergoglio harshly criticized those in power, saying, "Let's not tolerate the sad spectacle of those who no longer know how to lie and contradict themselves to hold onto their privileges, their rapaciousness, and their ill-earned wealth."[139] During a May 2010 speech in Argentina regarding the poor, he directed his message to the wealthy by saying: "You avoid taking into account the poor. We have no right to duck down, to lower the arms carried by those in despair. We must reclaim the memory of our country who has a mother, recover the memory of our Mother".[140] In 2011, Bergoglio stated: "There is a daily anesthesia that this city knows how to use very well, and it is called bribery, and with this anesthesia the conscience is numbed. Buenos Aires is a bribe-taking city."[141]
In 2011, Bergoglio decried sweatshops and homelessness in Buenos Aires as forms of slavery:
In line with the Catholic Church's efforts to care for AIDS victims, he is well remembered for his 2001 visit to a hospice, in which he washed and kissed the feet of 12 AIDS patients.[133]In this city, slavery is the order of the day in various forms, in this city workers are exploited in sweatshops and, if immigrants, are deprived of the opportunity to get out. In this city, there are kids on the streets for years....... The city failed and continues to fail in the attempt to free them from this structural slavery that is homelessness.[141]
Aparecida Document
Child abuse, trafficking, and prostitution
In 2007, as Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio presented the final version of a joint statement of the bishops of Latin America – the "Aparecida Document" – upon its approval by Pope Benedict XVI. Bergoglio denounced what he characterized as a cultural tolerance of child abuse. He spoke strongly against the abuse of children as "demographic terrorism" and decried their exploitation saying, "Children are mistreated, and are not educated or fed. Many are made into prostitutes and exploited."[142] In 2011, Bergoglio condemned child trafficking and sex slavery in Buenos Aires:In this city, there are many girls who stop playing with dolls to enter the dump of a brothel because they were stolen, sold, betrayed ... In this city, women and girls are kidnapped, and they are subjected to use and abuse of their body; they are destroyed in their dignity. The flesh that Jesus assumed and died for is worth less than the flesh of a pet. A dog is cared for better than these slaves of ours, who are kicked, who are broken.[141]
Abortion, euthanasia, birth control, and the elderly
Bergoglio also encouraged his clergy and laity to oppose both abortion and euthanasia, describing the pro-choice movement as a "culture of death",[143] and had opposed the free distribution of contraceptives in Argentina.[144] As Archbishop, Bergoglio publicly spoke against the Kirchner government's attempts to institute the free distribution of contraceptives.[145] The Aparecida Document links worthiness to receive the Eucharist to compliance and acceptance of Church teaching against abortion and euthanasia:[142][146][147][148]He further denounced a "culture of discarding" the elderly and treating them as if they are disposable and worthless due to their advanced age.[142]We hope that legislators, heads of government, and health professionals, conscious of the dignity of human life and of the rootedness of the family in our peoples, will defend and protect it from the abominable crimes of abortion and euthanasia; that is their responsibility ... We should commit ourselves to "eucharistic coherence", that is, we should be conscious that people cannot receive Holy Communion and at the same time act or speak against the commandments, in particular when abortion, euthanasia, and other serious crimes against life and family are facilitated. This responsibility applies particularly to legislators, governors, and health professionals.
Same-sex marriage
Bergoglio opposes same-sex marriage, and in 2011 referred to it as "the devil's work".[149] When Argentina was considering legalizing it in 2010, he believed that the Church's opposition could not prevent its passage and proposed that the country's bishops support civil unions as an alternative.[150] When his fellow bishops rejected that position, he joined their unsuccessful opposition to the legislation[150] and called it a "real and dire anthropological throwback".[151] In July 2010, while the law was under consideration, he wrote a letter to Argentina's cloistered nuns in which he said:[152][153][154]In the coming weeks, the Argentine people will face a situation whose outcome can seriously harm the family…At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God's law engraved in our hearts.
After L'Osservatore Romano reported this, several priests expressed their support for the law.[153][e] Observers believe that the church's opposition and Bergoglio's language worked in favor of the law's passage and that in response Catholic officials adopted a more conciliatory tone in later debates on social issues such as parental surrogacy.[156][157]Let's not be naive: This is not a simple political fight; it is a destructive proposal to God's plan. This is not a mere legislative proposal (that's just its form), but a move by the father of lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God… Let's look to St. Joseph, Mary, and the Child to ask fervently that they defend the Argentine family in this moment... May they support, defend, and accompany us in this war of God.
Writings
Books
- Bergoglio, Jorge (1982) (in Spanish). Meditaciones para religiosos [Meditations for the Religious]. Buenos Aires: Diego de Torres. OCLC 644781822.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (1992) (in Spanish). Reflexiones en esperanza [Reflections of Hope]. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Universidad del Salvador. OCLC 36380521.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2003) (in Spanish). Educar: exigencia y pasión: desafíos para educadores cristianos [To Educate: Exactingness and Passion: Challenges for Christian Educators]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claretiana. ISBN 9789505124572.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2003) (in Spanish). Ponerse la patria al hombro: memoria y camino de esperanza [Putting the Motherland on One's Shoulders: Memoir and Path of Hope]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claretiana. ISBN 9789505125111.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2005) (in Spanish). La nación por construir: utopía, pensamiento y compromiso: VIII Jornada de Pastoral Social [The Nation to Be Built: Utopia, Thought, and Commitment]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claretiana. ISBN 9789505125463.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2006) (in Spanish). Corrupción y pecado: algunas reflexiones en torno al tema de la corrupción [Corruption and Sin: Some Thoughts on Corruption]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claretiana. ISBN 9789505125722.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2007) (in Spanish). El verdadero poder es el servicio [True Power Is Service]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claretiana. OCLC 688511686.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2009) (in Spanish). Seminario: las deudas sociales de nuestro tiempo: la deuda social según la doctrina de la iglesia [Seminar: the Social Debts of Our Time: Social Debt According to Church Doctrine]. Buenos Aires: EPOCA-USAL. ISBN 9788493741235.
- Bergoglio, Jorge; Skorka, Abraham (2010) (in Spanish). Sobre el cielo y la tierra [On Heaven and Earth]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana. ISBN 9789500732932.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2010) (in Spanish). Seminario Internacional: consenso para el desarrollo: reflexiones sobre solidaridad y desarrollo [International seminar: Consensus about Development: Reflexions on Solidarity and development]. Buenos Aires: EPOCA. ISBN 9789875073524.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2011) (in Spanish). Nosotros como ciudadanos, nosotros como pueblo: hacia un bicentenario en justicia y solidaridad [Ourselves as Citizens, Ourselves as a People: towards a Bicentenary in Justice and Solidarity]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claretiana. ISBN 9789505127443.
Other
- Bergoglio, Jorge (1995) (in Spanish). La vida sagrada y su misión en la Iglesia y en el mundo. Argentina Catholic University: Faculty of Theology. OCLC 806712655.
- Egan, Edward Michael; Bergoglio, Jorge (2001). "Episcopus minister Evangelii Iesu Christi propter spem mundi: relatio post disceptationem". The Catholic Church. The Synod of Bishops. Ordinary General Assembly. E Civitate Vaticana. OCLC 749998123.
- John Paul, Pope; Castro, Fidel (2004). Bergoglio, Jorge. ed (in Spanish). Diálogos entre Juan Pablo II y Fidel Castro [Dialogues Between John Paul II and Fidel Castro]. Buenos Aires: Ciudad Argentina. ISBN 9789875070745.
- Bergoglio, Jorge (2007). "Buscar el camino hacia el futuro, llevando consigo la memoria de las raíces" (in Spanish). Humanitas (National Humanities Institute) (47): 468–483. OCLC 176911626.
- Castiñeira de Dios, José María (2007) (in Spanish). El santito Ceferino Namuncurá: relato en verso. Foreword by Jorge Bergoglio. Buenos Aires: Lumen. ISBN 9789870007340.
- Official Vatican transcript in English of IEC Catechesis The Eucharist: Gift from God for the life of the world (2008) (originally given in Spanish), 49th International Eucharistic Congress, Quebec, Canada
- (Spanish) Agencia Informativa Católica Argentina: Documentos de los obispos: Homilías y documentos del cardenal Bergoglio, 1999-2012
See also
- Jerónimo Podestá, defrocked priest befriended by Bishop Bergoglio
- Jesuit formation
Notes
- ^ Press reports have provided a variety of translations for the phrase. According to Vatican Radio: "Pope Francis has chosen the motto Miserando atque eligendo, meaning lowly but chosen; literally in Latin 'by having mercy, by choosing him'. The motto is one Francis used as bishop. It is taken from the homilies of the Venerable Bede on Saint Matthew's Gospel relating to his vocation:'Jesus saw the tax collector and by having mercy chose him as an apostle saying to him :Follow me.'"[1]
- ^ Pronunciation: [ˈxorxe ˈmaɾjo βerˈɣoɣljo] (Spanish), [bɛrˈgɔʎːo] (Italian)
- ^ On the day of his election, the Vatican clarified that his official papal name was "Francis", not "Francis I". A Vatican spokesman said that the name would become Francis I if and when there is a Francis II.[108][113]
- ^ Pope John Paul I, elected in 1978, took a new combination of already used names, in honour of his two immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI.[114]
- ^ One priest was suspended after refusing his bishop's order to cease his advocacy.[155]
2 comments:
I cannot use blogger dashboard to re-edit my:
http://avlesbeluskesexposed.blogspot.it/2013/03/jesuit-extreme-oath-of-induction-and.html
.... as the collage I putted on it is disappeared. I cannot even do another post as the button "New Post" doesn't work even if I correctly logged in.
I have had no such problems on my end.
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