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WORK TITLE: Life
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PERSONAL
Born December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina; son of Mario (a railway worker) and Regina Bergoglio.
EDUCATION:Graduate of University of Santiago, Chile; Colegio de San José, San Miguel, Argentina, B.A.,; postgraduate work at University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain; completed doctoral degree in Germany.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Entered Society of Jesus (Jesuits), 1958; Immaculate Conception College, Santa Fé, Argentina, faculty member, 1964-65; Colegio del Salvatore, Buenos Aires, Argentina, faculty member, 1966, ordained a priest, 1969; Villa Barilari, San Miguel, Argentina, novice master and professor of theology, 1971-73; Jesuit provincial in Argentina, 1973-79; Philosophical and Theological Faculty, San Miguel, Argentina, rector, and Patriarca San Jose parish, diocese of San Miguel, Argentina, pastor, 1980-86; Buenos Aires, Argentina, auxiliary bishop, 1992-98, archbishop, 1998-2001; elevated to cardinal, 2001; elected head of Argentine Conference of Bishops, 2005-08; elected pope, 2013.
Worked briefly as a chemistry technician and as a nightclub bouncer before studying for the priesthood.
RELIGION: Roman Catholic.WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013, Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope and the first pope from Latin America. His humility and ease with ordinary people, as well as his progressive views on issues such as economic inequality, homosexuality, and climate change, have infused new energy into the Church and have inspired hopes for reform.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936, Pope Francis is the eldest of five children born to parents who had immigrated to Buenos Aires from Italy. His father was a railway worker, and his mother stayed home to care for the family. As a boy, the future pope developed a strong sense of social justice and of solidarity with the poor. Bergoglio studied chemistry and worked briefly as a chemical technician and as a nightclub bouncer before realizing his calling to the priesthood. In 1958 he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), studying humanities in Chile and at the Colegio de San José in San Miguel, Argentina, where he later completed a degree in theology. He was ordained a priest on December 13, 1969. After additional theological training in Spain, he returned to Argentina, where he served as novice master at Villa Barilari, San Miguel, and was a member of the faculty of theology.
In 1973, Bergoglio was appointed Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, making him leader of the country’s Jesuit community. In 1979 he returned to the university sector and also worked as a parish priest in San Miguel, traveling to Germany in 1986 to complete his doctoral work. Returning to Argentina, Bergoglio was made auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and then archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. In 2001, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the rank of cardinal. From 2005 to 2008, Bergoglio served as head of the Argentine Conference of Bishops. Elected pope in 2013, he took the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a man who had loved and served the poor. Pope Francis has continued to live modestly, wearing plain vestments instead of papal finery and jewels, residing in a small, plain apartment at the Vatican rather than living in the Apostolic Palace, and traveling via inexpensive cars.
Pope Francis has written books on matters relating to the modern church as well as papal encyclicals, which are letters to the faithful regarding Catholic doctrine. His homilies, speeches, and devotional writings have been collected in numerous volumes, including The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church and A Year of Mercy: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis. He has also written about wider social topics, such as economic and environmental injustice. Though he has not invalidated the church’s traditional positions against abortion, same-sex marriage, divorce, birth control, and women’s ordination, he has urged his followers to treat others with compassion and mercy rather than judgment.
On Heaven and Earth
On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century features a series of conversations between Pope Francis and Argentine rabbi, biophysicist, and author Abraham Skorka. These conversations range over topics including God, atheism, fundamentalism, death, and the Holocaust, as well as capitalism, homosexuality, and the scandal of clerical sex abuse. Writing in Maclean’s, Brian Bethune said that in this book, the pope “reveals a forceful personality to accompany his mild- mannered, soft-spoken pastoral approach, and a hatred of injustice. He expresses admiration for atheist socialists who dedicated their lives to the poor.” Though Pope Francis rejects arguments that link priests’ pedophilia to celibacy, he is, in Bethune’s words, “contemptuous of the Church’s self-protective cover-up instinct when faced with such a cleric.” Addressing the pope’s image as an agent of progressive change, Bethune said that On Heaven and Earth shows Pope Francis to be “an archetypal Southern Catholic prelate: traditionalist in sexual morality and left-leaning in his criticism of global capitalism.”
Writing in Library Journal, John Jaeger admired the frankness with which Pope Francis and Rabbit Skorka converse, noting in particular the pope’s openness when discussing sexual abuse by priests. Both participants in the book’s collected conversations, Jaeger said, speak with an intelligence and thoughtfulness that infuse the book with helpful insights.
A Big Heart Open to God
A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis contains a three-part interview between the pope and Jesuit priest Antonio Spadaro, editor of the Italian Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica. Asked “who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?,” the pope responds: “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.” Yet he goes on to say that he has been “looked upon by the Lord” and has chosen, in following Christ, to follow a path of mercy.
Speaking of his decision to enter the Jesuit order, Pope Francis explains his need to live within a community. He also notes that he had been struck, early on, by a saying that describes the vision of the order’s founder, Ignatius of Loyola: “not to be limited by the greatest and yet to be contained in the tiniest—this is the divine.” This motto, said the pope, “means being able to do the little things of every day with a big heart open to God and to others. That means being able to appreciate the small things inside large horizons, those of the kingdom of God.”
Throughout much of the book, Pope Francis discusses his views on Jesuit leadership and governance and his role as the first Jesuit pope. He also talks about subjects such as optimism and creativity. He mentions his favorite composers, among them Mozart, Bach, and Wagner, and states that he has admired “a diverse array of authors,” including Dostoevsky and Höderlin as well as Alessandro Manzoni and Gerard Manley Hopkins. “In general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones,” he states. “There is a nice definition that Cervantes puts on the lips of the bachelor Carrasco to praise the story of Don Quixote: ‘Children have it in their hands, young people read it, adults understand it, the elderly praise it.’ For me this can be a good definition of the classics.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
(With Antonio Spadaro) A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis, HarperOne (New York, NY), 2013.
PERIODICALS
America, September 30, 2013, review of and excerpts from A Big Heart Open to God, p. 14; January 6, 2015, Elisabetta Pique, “We Must Reach Out,” p. 15.
California Bookwatch, September, 2013, review of On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, March 13, 2013, “Facts about Pope Francis I.”
Charlie Rose Show, September 21, 2013, interview with Fr. Matt Malone, S.J.
Christian Century, January 21, 2015, “Christmas Lecture.”
Christianity Today, December, 2014, “Pope Francis: From Secular Journalists to Charismatic Christians, Why So Many of Us Are Taken with the Jesuit from Argentina,” p. 36.
Commonweal, September 26, 2014, John Wilkins, “Great Expectations: Pope Francis & the Synod on the Family,” p. 13; April 10, 2015, Walter Kasper, “Open House: How Pope Francis Sees the Church,” p. 12.
Economist, March 16, 2013, “White Smoke, Some Clouds; Pope Francis,” p. 61.
First Things, March, 2014, David Mills, “’He’s Been a Bit Naive,’ Wrote the Editor on Pope Francis in the December Public Square, While Admitting He’s Also Been ‘a Bit Astute,’” p. 68; March, 2015, “The ‘Who Am I to Judge?’ Comment Was Also Made during an Airplane Trip.”
Harvard International Review, spring, 2015, Emma Dwight, “Dissecting a Miracle: Pope Francis the Peacemaker,” p. 7.
Internet Bookwatch, March, 2014, review of Inspiration from Pope Francis, p. 35; May, 2014, review of I Ask You to Pray for Me: Opening a Horizon of Hope; July, 2014, review of The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church; June, 2015, review of Walking with Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2014, review of The Church of Mercy.
Library Journal, July 1, 2013, John Jaeger, review of On Heaven and Earth, p. 86.
Maclean’s April, 2013, Brian Bethune, “Suspension of Disbelief,” p. 16.
National Catholic Reporter, November 7, 2014, review of Walking in Joy with Pope Francis: 30 Days with the Joy of the Gospel, p. 36; November 7, 2014, “What the Pope Says about Jesus,” p. 36.
National Geographic, August, 2015, Robert Draper, “Will the Pope Change the Vatican? Or Will the Vatican Change the Pope?”
National Review, September 7, 2015, Ramesh Ponnuru, “Puzzling Out Pope Francis: Offhand Remarks, Often Reported without Context, Have Shaped His Image,” p. 26; October 19, 2015, “The Pope in America,” p. 14.
New Statesman, May 17, 2013, John Cornwell, “The Beatific South: The First Pope of the Americas,” p. 40; July 19, 2013, John Cornwell, “A Game of Miracles,” p. 24; October 18, 2013, Matthew Kneale, “The Austerity Pope: Francis’s Mission to Cleanse the Catholic Church of Luxury,” p. 22.
Newsweek, December 13, 2013, Cristina Odone, “Is Pope Francis a Socialist?,” p. 1; September 18, 2015, Alexander Nazaryan, “Is the Pope Catholic? Yes, but You Wouldn’t Know It from His Press Clips.”
New York Times, September 20, 2013, Laurie Goodstein, excerpts from interview with Pope Francis originally published in America; September 27, 2015, Maureen Dowd, “Is Francis a Perilous Pope?,” p. 1; September 28, 2015, Laurie Goodstein, “After Criticism, a Pledge of Church Accountability for Abuse by Priests”; September 28, 2015, Andrew R. Chow, “Next Up from Pope Francis? An Album, of Course”; September 29, 2015, Jim Yardley, “Pope Acknowledges Cover-Ups by Bishops,” p. A4; September 29, 2015, Anand Giridharadas, “Francis Sees Both Sides of Business.”
Publishers Weekly, April 14, 2014, review of The Church of Mercy, p. 49.
Reviewer’s Bookwatch, October 11, 2015, Susan Bethany, review of Family and Life: Pastoral Reflections.
Rolling Stone, January 28, 2014, Bark Binelli, “Pope Francis: ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’.”
Theological Studies, September, 2015, Massimo Faggioli, “The Roman Curia at and after Vatican II: Legal-Rational or Theological Reform”; September, 2015, Paul Weithman, “Piketty and the Pope: A Dialogue Begun.”
USA Today, September 23, 2013, Douglas Stanglin, “What Francis Said,” p. 3; September 28, 2015, “Pope’s Message to All Deserves to Be Heard,” p. 8; September 28, 2015, Rick Hampson, “Pope’s Clarity, His Times Make Him Different,” p. 2.
U.S. Catholic, August, 2014, Bryan Cones, review of The Church of Mercy, p. 43.
Washington Post, September 19, 2013, Michelle Boorstein and Elizabeth Tenety, “Pope Francis: Don’t Focus So Much on Abortion, Gay Marriage, Contraception”; October 1, 2013, Michelle Boorstein and Elizabeth Tenety, “Pope Francis Stirs Debate Yet Again with Interview with an Atheist Italian Journalist.”
World Affairs, July- August, 2014, Roland Flamini, “Peter and Caesar: Is Pope Francis Shifting the Vatican’s Worldview?”
ONLINE
Holy See Web site, https://w2.vatican.va/ (October 28, 2015), “Pope Francis.”
National Public Radio Web site, http://www.npr.org/ (October 28, 2015), Morning Edition, “Pope Strikes a Chord with Catholics and Non- Catholics Alike”; All Things Considered, “Pope Francis Was ‘Runner-Up’ at Previous Conclave”; Melissa Block, “Seminarian Hopes Pope Francis Will Heal Religion’s ‘Crisis of Faith’.”
YaleGlobal Online, http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/ (October 28, 2015), “Pope Calls for ‘Action Now’ to Save Planet, Stem Warming, Help Poor.”*
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pope
Francis
Bishop of Rome
Pope Francis in 2021
Church Catholic Church
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
by John Paul II
Personal details
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio
17 December 1936 (age 87)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality Argentine (with Vatican citizenship)
Denomination Catholic
Residence Domus Sanctae Marthae
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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 San Roberto Bellarmino (2001–2013)
Ordinary for the Faithful of the Eastern Rites in Argentina (1998–2013)
President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (2005–2011)
Education
Maximum College of St. Joseph
Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel
Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy
Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology
Motto Miserando atque eligendo[a]
Signature Francis's signature
Coat of arms Francis's coat of arms
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History
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Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;[b] 17 December 1936) is the Pope and head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian Pope Gregory III.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked for a time as a bouncer and a janitor as a young man before training to be a chemist and working as a technician in a food science laboratory. After recovering from a severe illness of pneumonia and cysts, he was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina. The administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival.
Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor, and commitment to interreligious dialogue. He is credited with having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes.
Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia.[2][3] He maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBT community. He has clarified that while blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the individuals can be blessed, as long as the blessings are not given in a liturgical context.[4] Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment;[5] he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy.[6] Widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil,[7] he has termed it "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person", "inadmissible", and committed the Church to its abolition,[8] saying that there can be "no going back from this position".[9]
In international diplomacy, Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality,[10] helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises, calling on the Western World to significantly increase immigration levels.[11][12] In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the "cultural genocide" of the Canadian indigenous peoples.[13] On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality, described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.[3][14][15]
Early years
Jorge Mario Bergoglio (fourth boy from the left in the third row from the top) at age 12, Salesian College (c. 1948–49)
Pope Francis was born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936[16] in Flores,[17] a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.[16] He was the eldest[18] of five children of Mario José Bergoglio (1908–1959) and Regina María Sívori (1911–1981). Mario Bergoglio was an Italian immigrant accountant[19] born in Portacomaro (Province of Asti) in Italy's Piedmont region. Regina Sívori[20] was a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.[21][22][23] Mario José's family left Italy in 1929 to escape the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini.[24] According to María Elena Bergoglio (born 1948), the pope's only living sibling, they did not emigrate for economic reasons.[25] His other siblings were Oscar Adrián (1938–deceased), Marta Regina (1940–2007), and Alberto Horacio (1942–2010).[26][27] Two great-nephews, Antonio and Joseph, died in a traffic collision.[28][29] His niece, Cristina Bergoglio, is a painter based in Madrid, Spain.[30][31]
In the sixth grade, Bergoglio attended Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles, a school of the Salesians of Don Bosco, in Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires Province. He attended the technical secondary school Escuela Técnica Industrial Nº 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen,[32] named after a past Argentine president, and graduated with a chemical technician's diploma.[16][33][34] In that capacity, he spent several years working in the food section of Hickethier-Bachmann Laboratory,[35] where he worked under Esther Ballestrino. Earlier, he was a bouncer and a janitor.[36][37]
When he was 21 years old, after life-threatening pneumonia and three cysts, Bergoglio had part of a lung excised.[32][38]
Jesuit (1958–2013)
Bergoglio found his vocation to the priesthood while he was on his way to celebrate the Spring Day. He passed by a church to go to confession, and was inspired by the priest.[39] Bergoglio studied at the archdiocesan seminary, Inmaculada Concepción Seminary, in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires, and, after three years, entered the Society of Jesus as a novice on 11 March 1958.[40] Bergoglio has said that, as a young seminarian, he had a crush on a girl he met and briefly doubted about continuing the religious career.[41] As a Jesuit novice he studied humanities in Santiago, Chile.[42] After his novitiate in the Society of Jesus, Bergoglio officially became a Jesuit on 12 March 1960, when he made the religious profession of the initial, perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience of a member of the order.[43][44]
In 1960, Bergoglio obtained a licentiate in philosophy from the Colegio Máximo de San José in San Miguel, Buenos Aires Province. He taught literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepción, a high school in Santa Fe, from 1964 to 1965. In 1966, he taught the same courses at the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires.[16][45]
Presbyterate (1969–1992)
In 1967 Bergoglio began his theological studies at Facultades de Filosofía y Teología de San Miguel and on 13 December 1969 was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He served as the master of novices for the province there and became a professor of theology.[46]
Bergoglio completed his final stage of spiritual training as a Jesuit, tertianship, at Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and took final, solemn vows as a Jesuit, including the fourth vow of obedience to missioning by the pope, on 22 April 1973.[44] He was named provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina that July, for a six-year term which ended in 1979.[16][47] In 1973, shortly after being named provincial superior, he had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but his stay was shortened by the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War.[48] After the completion of his term of office, in 1980 he was named the rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel where he had studied.[49] Before taking up this new appointment, he spent the first three months of 1980 in Ireland to learn English, staying at the Jesuit Centre at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin.[50] He served at San Miguel for six years until 1986[16] when, at the discretion of Jesuit superior-general Peter Hans Kolvenbach, he was replaced by someone more in tune with the worldwide trend in the Society of Jesus toward emphasizing social justice, rather than his emphasis on popular religiosity and direct pastoral work.[51]
He spent several months at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany, considering possible dissertation topics.[52] He settled on exploring the work of the German / Italian theologian Romano Guardini, particularly his study of 'Contrast' published in his 1925 work Der Gegensatz. He returned to Argentina earlier than expected to serve as a confessor and spiritual director to the Jesuit community in Córdoba.[53] It was believed that while in Germany, he saw the painting of Mary, Untier of Knots in Augsburg and brought a copy of the painting to Argentina, but in an interview for the German newsweekly Die Zeit in 2017, Pope Francis stated that he had never been to Augsburg.[54][c] As a student at the Salesian school, Bergoglio was mentored by Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Stefan Czmil. Bergoglio often rose hours before his classmates to serve Divine Liturgy for Czmil.[57][58]
Bergoglio was asked in 1992 by Jesuit authorities not to reside in Jesuit houses, because of continued tensions with Jesuit leaders and scholars, a sense of Bergoglio's "dissent", views of his Catholic orthodoxy and his opposition to theology of liberation, and his work as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires.[59][60][61] As a bishop he was no longer subject to his Jesuit superior.[62] From then on, he did not visit Jesuit houses and was in "virtual estrangement from the Jesuits" until after his election as pope.[51][59]
Pre-papal episcopate (1992–2013)
Bergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and consecrated on 27 June 1992 as titular bishop of Auca,[16][63] with Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving as principal consecrator.[64] He chose as his episcopal motto Miserando atque eligendo.[65] It is drawn from Saint Bede's homily on Matthew 9:9–13: "because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him".[66]
On 3 June 1997, Bergoglio was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires with right of succession. Upon Quarracino's death on 28 February 1998, Bergoglio became metropolitan archbishop of Buenos Aires. In that role, Bergoglio created new parishes and restructured the archdiocese administrative offices, led pro-life initiatives, and created a commission on divorces.[16][67] One of Bergoglio's major initiatives as archbishop was to increase the church's presence in the slums of Buenos Aires. Under his leadership, the number of priests assigned to work in the slums doubled.[68] This work led to him being called the "Slum Bishop".[69]
Early in his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio sold off the archdiocese's shares in multiple banks and turned its accounts into those of a normal customer in international banks. The shares in banks had led the local church to a propensity toward high spending and the archdiocese was consequently nearly bankrupt. As a normal customer of the bank, the church was forced into a higher fiscal discipline.[70]
On 6 November 1998, while remaining archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was named ordinary for those Eastern Catholics in Argentina who lacked a prelate of their own church.[64] Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said that Bergoglio understands the liturgy, rites, and spirituality of Shevchuk's Ukrainian 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.[58]
In 2000, Bergoglio was the only church official to reconcile with Jerónimo Podestá, a former bishop who had been suspended as a priest after opposing the Argentine Revolution military dictatorship in 1972. He defended Podestá's wife from Vatican attacks on their marriage.[71][72][73] That same year, Bergoglio said the Argentine Catholic Church needed "to put on garments of public penance for the sins committed during the years of the dictatorship" in the 1970s, during the Dirty War.[74]
Bergoglio made it his custom to celebrate the Holy Thursday ritual washing of feet in places such as jails, hospitals, retirement homes or slums.[75] In 2007, just two days after Benedict XVI issued new rules for using the liturgical forms that preceded the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Bergoglio established a fixed place for a weekly Mass in this extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.[76] It was celebrated weekly.[77]
On 8 November 2005, Bergoglio was elected president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference for a three-year term (2005–08).[78] He was reelected to another three-year term on 11 November 2008.[79] 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.[64] While head of the Argentine Catholic bishops' conference, Bergoglio issued a collective apology for his church's failure to protect people from the Junta during the Dirty War.[80] When he turned 75 in December 2011, Bergoglio submitted his resignation as archbishop of Buenos Aires to Pope Benedict XVI as required by canon law.[48] Still, as he had no coadjutor archbishop, he stayed in office, waiting for an eventual replacement appointed by the Vatican.[81]
Cardinalate (2001–2013)
Bergoglio on 18 June 2008 giving a catechesis
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, a church served by Jesuits and named for one; he was formally installed in that church the following 14 October. When he travelled to Rome for the ceremony, he and his sister María Elena visited the village in northern Italy where their father was born.[25] As cardinal, Bergoglio was appointed to five administrative positions in the Roman Curia. He was a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for the Family and 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,[82] and, according to the Catholic Herald, created "a favourable impression as a man open to communion and dialogue".[83][84]
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in 2008
Cardinal Bergoglio became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism, and a commitment to social justice.[85] 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.[86] He limited his time in Rome to "lightning visits".[87] He was devoted to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and enclosed a small picture of her in the letters he wrote, calling her "a great missionary saint".[88]
After Pope John Paul II died on 2 April 2005, Bergoglio attended his funeral and was considered one of the papabile for succession to the papacy.[89] 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.[85][90] 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.[91][92] The claims were based on a diary purportedly belonging to an anonymous cardinal who had been present at the conclave.[91][93] According to the Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, this number of votes had no precedent for a Latin American papabile.[93] 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.[94] According to Tornielli, Bergoglio made this request to prevent the conclave from delaying too much in the election of a pope.[95]
As a cardinal, Bergoglio was associated with Communion and Liberation, a Catholic evangelical lay movement of the type known as associations of the faithful.[85][96] He sometimes made appearances at the annual gathering known as the Rimini Meeting held during the late summer months in Italy.[85] In 2005, Cardinal Bergoglio authorized the request for beatification—the third step toward sainthood—for six members of the Pallottine community murdered in the San Patricio Church massacre.[97][98] At the same time, Bergoglio ordered an investigation into the murders themselves, which had been widely blamed on the National Reorganization Process, the military junta that ruled Argentina at the time.[98]
Argentine government relations
Dirty War
See also: Dirty War
Bergoglio was the subject of allegations regarding the Argentine Navy's kidnapping of two Jesuit priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics, in May 1976, during Argentina's Dirty War.[99] He feared for the priests' safety and had tried to change their work prior to their arrest; contrary to reports, he did not try to throw them out of the Jesuit order.[100] In 2005, Myriam Bregman, 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.[101] Her complaint did not specify how Bergoglio was involved; Bergoglio's spokesman flatly denied the allegations. The complaint was ultimately dismissed.[99] The priests were tortured,[102] but were 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 authorities 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".[103] Jalics initially refused to discuss the complaint after moving into seclusion in a German monastery.[104] Two days after the election of Francis, Jalics issued a statement confirming the kidnapping and attributing the cause to a former lay colleague who became a guerrilla, was captured, then named Yorio and Jalics when interrogated.[105] The following week, Jalics issued a second, clarifying statement: "It is wrong to assert that our capture took place at the initiative of Father Bergoglio (…) the fact is, Orlando Yorio and I were not denounced by Father Bergoglio."[106][107]
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.[108] Bergoglio also told 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.[102] The interview with Rubin, reflected in the biography El jesuita, is the only time Bergoglio has spoken to the press about those events.[109] Alicia Oliveira, a former Argentine judge, has also reported that Bergoglio helped people flee Argentina during the rule of the junta.[110] Since Francis became pope, Gonzalo Mosca[111] and José Caravias[112] have related to journalists accounts of how Bergoglio helped them flee the Argentine dictatorship.
Oliveira described the future pope as "anguished" and "very critical of the dictatorship" during the Dirty War.[113] 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."[103] Artist and human rights activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 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."[114][115] 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 the Clarín newspaper: "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."[116] Ricardo Lorenzetti, President of the Argentine Supreme Court, also has said that Bergoglio is "completely innocent" of the accusations.[117] Historian Uki Goñi pointed that, during early 1976, the military junta still had a good image among society, and that the scale of the political repression was not known until much later; Bergoglio would have had little reason to suspect that the detention of Yorio and Jalics could end up in their deaths.[118]
When Bergoglio became pope, an alleged photo of him giving the sacramental bread to dictator Jorge Rafael Videla became popular in social networks. It has also been used by the newspaper Página/12.[119] The photo was soon proved to be false. It was revealed that the priest, whose face is not visible in the photo, was Carlos Berón de Astrada. The photo was taken at the church "Pequeña Obra de la Divina Providencia Don Orione" in 1990, not during the Dirty War, and after Videla's presidential pardon. The photo was produced by the agency AFP and it was initially published by the Crónica newspaper.[120]
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa replaced Carlos Menem as president of Argentina in 1999. As an archbishop, Bergoglio celebrated the annual Mass at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral on the First National Government holiday, 25 May. In 2000, Bergoglio criticized the perceived apathy of society.[121] Argentina faced an economic depression at the time, and the Catholic Church criticized the fiscal austerity of the government, which increased poverty. De la Rúa asked the church to promote a dialogue between the leaders of economic and political sectors to find a solution for the crisis. He claims that he talked with Bergoglio and proposed to take part in the meeting, but Bergoglio would have told him that the meeting was cancelled because of a misunderstanding by De la Rúa's assistant, who may have declined the president's assistance. Bishop Jorge Casaretto considers it unlikely, as De la Rúa only made the request in newspaper interviews, but never made a formal request to the church.[122]
The Justicialist Party won the 2001 elections and got the majority in the Congress, and appointed Ramón Puerta as president of the Senate. As vice-president Carlos Álvarez resigned shortly before, this left an opposing party second in the order of precedence. Bergoglio asked for an interview with Puerta, and had a positive impression of him. Puerta told him that the Justicialist party was not plotting to oust De la Rúa, and promised to help the president promote the laws that may be required.[123]
During police repression of the riots of December 2001, he contacted the Ministry of the Interior and asked that the police distinguish rioters and vandals from peaceful protesters.[124]
Néstor and Cristina Kirchner
Francis with Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, holding traditional Argentine mate drinkware
When Bergoglio celebrated Mass at the cathedral for the 2004 First National Government holiday, President Néstor Kirchner attended and heard Bergoglio request more political dialogue, reject intolerance, and criticize exhibitionism and strident announcements.[125] Kirchner celebrated the national day elsewhere the following year and the Mass in the cathedral was suspended.[126] In 2006, Bergoglio helped the fellow Jesuit Joaquín Piña to win the elections in the Misiones Province and prevent an amendment of the local constitution that would allow indefinite re-elections. Kirchner intended to use that project to start similar amendments at other provinces, and eventually to the national constitution.[127] Kirchner considered Bergoglio as a political rival to the day he died in October 2010.[128] 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.[128] The campaign to enact same-sex marriage legislation was a particularly tense period in their relations.[128]
When Bergoglio was elected pope, the initial reactions were mixed. Most of the Argentine society cheered it, but the pro-government newspaper Página/12 published renewed allegations about the Dirty War, and the president of the National Library described a global conspiracy theory. The president took more than an hour before congratulating the new pope, and only did so in a passing reference within a routine speech. Due to the pope's popularity in Argentina, Cristina Kirchner made what the political analyst Claudio Fantini called a "Copernican shift" in her relations with him and fully embraced the Francis phenomenon.[129] On the day before his inauguration as pope, Bergoglio, now Francis, had a private meeting with Kirchner. They exchanged gifts and lunched together. This was the new pope's first meeting with a head of state, and there was speculation that the two were mending their relations.[130][131] Página/12 removed their controversial articles about Bergoglio, written by Horacio Verbitsky, from their web page, as a result of this change.[132]
Javier Milei
Before Javier Milei's election to the Argentine presidency, he was very critical of Francis, describing him as "imbecile" and a "communist turd". His disparaging comments sparked controversy among Catholics.[133] However, following his inauguration, Milei softened his position and formally invited Francis to Argentina. Milei visited the Vatican on 11 February 2024, the day Francis canonized María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, the first female Argentine saint.[134]
Papacy (2013–present)
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Vatican II revisited, and Theology of Pope Francis § Church leadership
Coat of arms of Pope Francis
As cardinal
As pope
The gold star represents the Virgin Mary, the grape-like plant—the spikenard—is associated with Saint Joseph and the IHS is the symbol of the Jesuits.[135][136][137]
Elected at 76 years old, Francis was reported to be healthy and his doctors have said his missing lung tissue, removed in his youth, does not significantly affect his health.[138] The only concern would be decreased respiratory reserve if he had a respiratory infection.[139] In the past, one attack of sciatica in 2007 prevented him from attending a consistory and delayed his return to Argentina for several days.[87]
Francis is the first Jesuit pope. This was a significant appointment, because of the sometimes tense relations between the Society of Jesus and the Holy See.[140] He came in second to Cardinal Ratzinger on all the ballots in the 2005 conclave and at the time appeared as the only other viable candidate.[141] He is also the first from the Americas,[142] and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.[143] Many media reported him as being the first non-European pope, but he is actually the 11th; the previous was Gregory III from Syria, who died in 741. Moreover, although Francis was not born in Europe, he is ethnically European; his father and maternal grandparents are from northern Italy.[144]
As pope, his manner is less formal than that of his immediate predecessors: a style that news coverage has referred to as "no frills", noting that it is "his common touch and accessibility that is proving the greatest inspiration".[145] On the night of his election, he took a bus back to his hotel with the cardinals, rather than be driven in the papal car.[146] The next day, he visited Cardinal Jorge María Mejía in the hospital and chatted with patients and staff.[147] At his first media audience, the Saturday after his election, the pope explained his papal name choice, citing Saint Francis of Assisi as "the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man", and he added "[h]ow I would like a poor Church, and for the poor".[148]
In addition to his native Spanish, he speaks fluent Italian (the official language of Vatican City and the "everyday language" of the Holy See) and German. He is also conversant in Latin (the official language of the Holy See),[149] French,[150] Portuguese,[151] and English,[152][153] and he understands the Piedmontese language and some Genoese.[154]
Francis chose not to live in the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace, but to remain in the Vatican guest house, in a suite in which he can receive visitors and hold meetings. He is the first pope since Pope Pius X to live outside the papal apartments.[155] Francis still appears at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Sunday Angelus.[156]
As a Jesuit pope, he has been "making clear that a fundamental task of the faithful is not so much to follow rules but to discern what God is calling them to do. He is altering the culture of the clergy, steering away from what he has named as "clericalism" (which dwells on priestly status and authority) and toward an ethic of service (Francis says the church's shepherds must have the "smell of the sheep", always staying close to the People of God)."[157]
On 13 December 2023, in an interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa, Francis said that his "great devotion" was to the Salus populi Romani icon at the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Francis also told the news outlet that his tomb was already prepared at the basilica near the icon. Francis will be the first pope since Pope Leo XIII to be buried outside the Vatican.[158]
Election
Main articles: 2013 papal conclave and Papal inauguration of Pope Francis
Francis appears in public for the first time as pope, at St. Peter's Basilica balcony, 13 March 2013.
Bergoglio was elected pope on 13 March 2013,[16][159][160] the second day of the 2013 papal conclave, taking the papal name Francis.[16][161] Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of the conclave.[162] The Habemus papam announcement was delivered by the cardinal protodeacon, Jean-Louis Tauran.[163] Cardinal Christoph Schönborn later said that Bergoglio was elected following two supernatural signs, one in the conclave - and hence confidential - and a Latin-American couple, friends of Schönborn at Vatican City, who whispered Bergoglio's name in the elector's ear; Schönborn commented "if these people say Bergoglio, that's an indication of the Holy Spirit".[164]
Instead of accepting his cardinals' congratulations while seated on the papal throne, Francis received them standing, reportedly an immediate sign of a changing approach to formalities at the Vatican.[165] 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[165][166] used by previous popes.[167] He also wore the same iron pectoral cross that he had worn as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the gold one worn by his predecessors.[166]
After being elected and choosing his name, his first act was bestowing the Urbi et Orbi blessing on thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. Before blessing the crowd, he asked those in St. Peter's Square to pray for his predecessor, "the bishop emeritus of Rome" Pope Benedict XVI, and for himself as the new "bishop of Rome".[168]
Francis held his papal inauguration on 19 March 2013 in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.[16] He celebrated Mass in the presence of various political and religious leaders from around the world.[169] In his homily Francis focused on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the liturgical day on which the Mass was celebrated.[170]
Name
Francis in St. Peter's Square, two months after his election
At his first audience on 16 March 2013, Francis told journalists that he had chosen the name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi, and had done so because he was especially concerned for the well-being of the poor.[171][172][173] He explained that, as it was becoming clear during the conclave voting that he would be elected the new bishop of Rome, the Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes had embraced him and whispered, "Don't forget the poor", which had made Bergoglio think of the saint.[174][175] Bergoglio had previously expressed his admiration for St. Francis, explaining that: "He brought to Christianity an idea of poverty against the luxury, pride, vanity of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the time. He changed history."[176]
This is the first time that a pope has been named Francis. On the day of his election, the Vatican clarified that his official papal name was "Francis", not "Francis I", i.e. no regnal number is used for him. A Vatican spokesman said that the name would become Francis I if and when there is a Francis II.[172][177] It is the first time since Lando's 913–914 pontificate that a serving pope holds a name not used by a predecessor.[d]
Francis also said that some cardinal electors had jokingly suggested to him that he should choose either "Adrian", since Adrian VI had been a reformer of the church, or "Clement" to settle the score with Clement XIV, who had suppressed the Jesuit order.[148][179] In February 2014, it was reported that Bergoglio, had he been elected in 2005, would have chosen the pontifical name of "John XXIV" in honour of John XXIII. It was said that he told Cardinal Francesco Marchisano: "John, I would have called myself John, like the Good Pope; I would have been completely inspired by him".[180]
Curia
Inauguration of Francis, 19 March 2013
On 16 March 2013, Francis asked all those in senior positions of the Roman Curia to provisionally continue in office.[181] He named Alfred Xuereb as his personal secretary.[182] On 6 April he named José Rodríguez Carballo as secretary for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, a position that had been vacant for several months.[183] Francis abolished the bonuses paid to Vatican employees upon the election of a new pope, amounting to several million Euros, opting instead to donate the money to charity.[184] He also abolished the €25,000 annual bonus paid to the cardinals serving on the Board of Supervisors for the Vatican bank.[185]
On 13 April 2013, he named eight cardinals to a new Council of Cardinal Advisers to advise him on revising the organizational structure of the Roman Curia. The group included several known as critics of Vatican operations and only one member of the Curia.[186] They are Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican City State governorate; Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa from Chile; Oswald Gracias from India; Reinhard Marx from Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; George Pell from Australia; Seán O'Malley from the United States; and Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga from Honduras. He appointed Bishop Marcello Semeraro secretary for the group and scheduled its first meeting for 1–3 October.[187]
Early issues
In March 2013, 21 British Catholic peers and members of Parliament from all parties asked Francis to allow married men in Great Britain to be ordained as priests, keeping celibacy as the rule for bishops. They asked it on the grounds that it would be anomalous that married Anglican priests can be received into the Catholic Church and ordained as priests, by means of either the Pastoral Provision of 20 June 1980 or the 2009 Anglican ordinariate, but married Catholic men cannot do the same.[188]
Fouad Twal, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, included a call in his 2013 Easter homily for the pope to visit Jerusalem.[189] Louis Raphael I, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, asked the pope to visit the "embattled Christian community" in Iraq.[190] In March 2021, Pope Francis went to Iraq on a first-ever papal visit to the diminishing Christian communities of Mesopotamia fallen apart after years of conflict.[191]
On the first Holy Thursday following his election, Francis washed and kissed the feet of ten male and two female juvenile offenders, not all Catholic, aged from 14 to 21, imprisoned at Rome's Casal del Marmo detention facility, telling them the ritual of foot washing is a sign that he is at their service.[192] This was the first time that a pope had included women in this ritual; although he had already done so when he was archbishop.[192] One of the male and one of the female prisoners were Muslim.[192]
On 31 March 2013, Francis used his first Easter homily to make a plea for peace throughout the world, specifically mentioning the Middle East, Africa, and North and South Korea.[193] He also spoke out against those who give in to "easy gain" in a world filled with greed, and made a plea for humanity to become a better guardian of creation by protecting the environment.[193] He said that "[w]e ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace."[194] In 2019 he stated that ecocide was a sin and should be made "a fifth category of crimes against peace, which should be recognised as such by the international community".[195][196][197]
Although the Vatican had prepared greetings in 65 languages, Francis chose not to read them.[153] According to the Vatican, the pope "at least for now, feels at ease using Italian, the everyday language of the Holy See".[198]
Thousands welcomed Francis in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 6 July 2015.
In 2013, Francis initially reaffirmed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's program to reform the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious,[199] initiated under his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. The New York Times reported that the Vatican had formed the opinion in 2012 that the sisters' group was tinged with feminist influences, focused too much on ending social and economic injustice and not enough on stopping abortion, and permitted speakers at its meetings who questioned church doctrine.[200][201] In April 2015 the investigation was brought to a close. While the timing of the closure may have anticipated a visit by Francis to the U.S. in September 2015, it was noted that the sisters' emphasis is close to that of Francis.[202]
On 12 May, Francis carried out his first canonizations of candidates approved for sainthood during the reign of Benedict XVI: the first Colombian saint, Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena, the second female Mexican saint, María Guadalupe García Zavala, both of the 20th century, and the 813 15th-century Martyrs of Otranto. He said: "While we venerate the martyrs of Otranto, ask God to support the many Christians who still suffer from violence and give them the courage and fate and respond to evil with goodness."[203]
Synodal church
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Decentralization
Francis has overseen synods on the family (2014), on youth (2018), and on the church in the Amazon region (2019). In 2019 Francis's apostolic constitution Episcopalis communio allowed that the final document of a synod may become magisterial teaching simply with papal approval. The constitution also allowed for laity to contribute input directly to the synod's secretary general.[204] Some analysts see the creation of a truly synodal church as likely to become the greatest contribution of Francis's papacy.[205]
Consultation with Catholic laity
Francis in Quito, Ecuador, 2015
A February 2014 survey by the World Values Survey cited in The Washington Post and Time shows how the unity Francis had created could be challenged. Although views about Francis personally were favourable, many Catholics disagreed with at least some of his teachings. The survey found that members of the Catholic Church are deeply divided over abortion, artificial contraception, divorce, the ordination of women, and married priests.[206][207] In the same month Francis asked parishes to provide answers to an official questionnaire[208] described as a "much broader consultation than just a survey"[209] regarding opinions among the laity. He continued to assert Catholic doctrine, in less dramatic tone than his recent predecessors, who maintained that the Catholic Church is not a democracy of popular opinion.[210]
Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University wrote of the survey Francis initiated, "it's not a survey in any sense that a social scientist would recognize". Woodhead said that many ordinary Catholics would have difficulty understanding theological jargon there. Nonetheless, she suspected the survey might be influential.[211]
The Catholic Church in England and Wales as of April 2014 had refused to publish results of this survey; a church spokesman said a senior Vatican official had expressly asked for summaries to remain confidential, and that orders had come from the pope that the information should not be made public until after October. This disappointed many reformers who hoped the laity would be more involved in decision-making. Some other Catholic churches, for example in Germany and Austria, published summaries of the responses to the survey, which showed a wide gap between church teaching and the behaviour of ordinary Catholics.[209]
In a column he wrote for the Vatican's semi-official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the then-Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, American cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who has a long-standing reputation as one of the church's most vocal conservative hard-liners, said that Francis opposed both abortion and gay marriage.[212] The Vatican's chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, also noted in the Vatican press office during the 2014 consistory meetings that Francis and Cardinal Walter Kasper would not change or redefine any dogmas pertaining to church theology on doctrinal matters.[213]
Institute for the Works of Religion
In the first months of Francis's papacy, the Institute for the Works of Religion, informally known as the Vatican Bank, said that it would become more transparent in its financial dealings[214] There had long been allegations of corruption and money laundering connected with the bank.[215][216] Francis appointed a commission to advise him about reform of the Bank,[215][216] and the finance consulting firm Promontory Financial Group was assigned to carry out a comprehensive investigation of all customer contacts of the bank on these facts.[217] Because of this affair the Promoter of Justice at the Vatican Tribunal applied a letter rogatory for the first time in the history of the Republic of Italy at the beginning of August 2013.[218] In January 2014, Francis replaced four of the five cardinal overseers of the Vatican Bank, who had been confirmed in their positions in the final days of Benedict XVI's papacy.[219] Lay experts and clerics were looking into how the bank was run. Ernst von Freyberg was put in charge. Moneyval feels more reform is needed, and Francis may be willing to close the bank if the reforms prove too difficult.[220] There is uncertainty how far reforms can succeed.[221]
Papal documents
On 29 June 2013, Francis published the encyclical Lumen fidei, which was largely the work of Benedict XVI but awaiting a final draft at his retirement.[222] On 24 November 2013, Francis published his first major letter as pope, the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium,[223] which he described as the programmatic of his papacy.[224] On 18 June 2015, he published his first own, original encyclical Laudato si' concerning care for the planet.[225] On 8 April 2016, Francis published his second apostolic exhortation, Amoris laetitia,[226] remarking on love within the family. Controversy arose at the end of 2016 when four cardinals formally asked Francis for clarifications, particularly on the issue of giving communion to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.[227]
His motu proprios include Ai nostri tempi and De concordia inter codices. Francis issued another titled Maiorem hac dilectionem which created a new path toward canonization for certain causes.
Francis established two new Secretariats (top-level departments) in the Roman Curia: the Secretariat for the Economy, and the Secretariat for Communications. He simplified the process for declaring matrimonial nullity.[228]
On 8 December 2017, Francis signed a new apostolic constitution on ecclesiastical universities and faculties Veritatis gaudium, published 29 January 2018.[229]
A further Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et exsultate (Rejoice and be glad), was published on 19 March 2018, dealing with "the call to holiness in today's world" for all persons. He counters contemporary versions of the gnostic and Pelagian heresies and describes how Jesus's beatitudes call people to "go against the flow".[230]
In February 2019, Francis acknowledged that priests and bishops were sexually abusing religious sisters.[231] He addressed this and the clergy sex abuse scandal by convening a summit on clergy sexual abuse in Rome 21–24 February 2019.[232] As a follow-up to that summit, on 9 May 2019 Francis promulgated the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi which specified responsibilities, including reporting directly to the Holy See on bishops and on one's superior, while simultaneously involving another bishop in the archdiocese of the accused bishop.[233]
On 30 September 2020, he published the apostolic letter Scripturae sacrae affectus to celebrate the 16th centenary of the death of Jerome.[234][235]
On 4 October 2020 on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Francis published the encyclical Fratelli tutti on fraternity and social friendship, using St. Francis's own words to describe our universal brotherhood and sisterhood.[236]
On 8 December 2020 on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis published the apostolic letter Patris corde ("With a Father's Heart").[237] To mark the occasion, the Pope proclaimed a "Year of Saint Joseph" from 8 December 2020, to 8 December 2021 on the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church.[238]
On 1 June 2021, Francis published the apostolic constitution Pascite gregem Dei.[239]
Pope Francis issued the motu proprio Traditionis custodes on 16 July 2021. The document abrogated the permissions for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass previously established by Benedict XVI in the 2007 Summorum Pontificum, with Traditionis custodes instituting increased restrictions on the use of the 1962 Roman Missal. Pope Francis stated in a letter accompanying the motu proprio that emphasizing the Mass of Paul VI would bring "unity I intend to re-establish throughout the Church of the Roman Rite".[240] On 11 February, Pope Francis met with two priests from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) and reassured them that Traditionis Custodes did not affect their community and gave them permission, in writing, to use all the liturgical books of 1962. He also implied that Traditionis Custodes did not apply to all traditional Catholic communities, not just the FSSP.[241]
Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue
Main article: Pope Francis: ecumenism and interreligious dialogue
The stamp is dedicated to the pastoral visit of Francis to Azerbaijan on 2 October 2016.
Pope Francis continued in the tradition of the Second Vatican Council and of the papacies since the Council in promoting ecumenism with other Christian denominations, as well as encouraging dialogue with leaders of other religions; he has also supported peace with those claiming no religious belief.
Clerical titles
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Clericalism
In January 2014, Francis said that he would appoint fewer monsignors and only assign those honoured to the lowest of the three surviving ranks of monsignor, chaplain of His Holiness. It would be awarded only to diocesan priests at least 65 years old. During his 15 years as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis never sought the title for any of his priests. It is believed he associates it with clerical careerism and hierarchy, though he did not apply this restriction to clergy working in the Roman Curia or diplomatic corps, where careerism is an even greater concern.[242]
Canonizations and beatifications
Main articles: List of saints canonized by Pope Francis, List of people beatified by Pope Francis, and List of people declared venerable by Pope Francis
Francis presided over the first canonizations of his pontificate on 12 May 2013 in which he canonized the Martyrs of Otranto. Antonio Primaldo and his 812 companions who had been executed by the Ottomans in 1480,[243] as well as the religious sisters Laura of St. Catherine of Siena and María Guadalupe García Zavala – in this first canonization he surpassed the record of Pope John Paul II in canonizing the most saints in a pontificate.[203] Francis approved the equipollent canonization of Angela of Foligno the following 9 October and then the Jesuit Peter Faber the following 17 December.[244][245]
The pope approved further equipollent canonizations on 3 April 2014 for the Jesuit José de Anchieta as well as the Ursuline nun Marie of the Incarnation and bishop François de Laval.[246] Francis canonized his two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II on 27 April 2014 and canonized six additional saints the following 23 November.[247][248] The pope canonized Joseph Vaz on his visit to Sri Lanka on 14 January 2015 and canonized a further four saints on the following 17 May; he canonized Junípero Serra on 23 September while visiting the United States and then canonized four saints on 18 October including the first married couple to be named as saints.[249][250][251][252] Francis canonized Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad and Stanislaus Papczyński on 5 June 2016 and then canonized Teresa of Calcutta on 4 September; he canonized seven additional saints on 16 October.[253][254][255] The pope canonized the two child visionaries Francisco and Jacinta Marto during his visit to Fátima in mid-2017 and canonized 35 additional saints on 15 October.[256][257] Francis recognized seven saints on 14 October 2018, chief among them, his predecessor Pope Paul VI and Óscar Romero.[258] Francis later confirmed the equipollent canonization for Bartholomew of Braga in mid-2019.[259] On 13 October 2019, Francis canonized five new saints, including Cardinal John Henry Newman.[260] The pope confirmed the equipollent canonization for Margherita della Metola on 24 April 2021.[261]
The pope has also continued the practice of having beatifications celebrated in the place of the individual's origin though has presided over beatifications himself on three occasions: for Paul Yun Ji-Chung and 123 companions on 16 August 2014, his predecessor Pope Paul VI on 19 October 2014, and two Colombian martyrs on 8 September 2017.[262][263][264] The pope has approved beatifications for a range of men and women including the likes of Álvaro del Portillo of Opus Dei (27 September 2014), the martyred archbishop Óscar Romero (23 May 2015), the prominent Polish cardinal Stefan Wyszyński (12 September 2021), and several large groups of Spanish martyrs.[265]
Francis also confirmed his predecessor John Paul I to be Venerable on 8 November 2017,[266] and Blessed on 4 September 2022.[267]
Doctors of the Church
On 21 February 2015, Francis signed a decree naming Saint Gregory of Narek as the 36th Doctor of the Church; he formally conferred the title upon the saint at a ceremony held in Saint Peter's Basilica on 12 April 2015 with delegations from the Armenian Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church present.[268] On 20 January 2022, Francis provided his approval to the suggestion to name Saint Irenaeus of Lyon as the 37th Doctor of the Church, formally conferring the title upon him, along with the supplementary title Doctor unitatis ("Doctor of Unity") in a decree issued on 21 January.[269]
Consistories
Main article: Cardinals created by Francis
At the first consistory of his papacy, held on 22 February 2014, Francis created 19 new cardinals. At the time of their elevation to that rank, 16 of these new cardinals were under eighty years of age and thus eligible to vote in a papal conclave.[270] The new appointees included prelates from South America, Africa, and Asia, including appointees in some of the world's poorest countries, such as Chibly Langlois from Haiti and Philippe Nakellentuba Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso.[271] The consistory was a rare occasion in which Francis and his predecessor, Benedict XVI, appeared together in public.[271]
Benedict XVI also attended the second consistory on 14 February 2015, at which Francis elevated 20 new cardinals, with 15 under the age of eighty and five over the age of eighty. The pope continued his practice of appointing cardinals from the peripheries, such as Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar and Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga.[272]
Francis presided over the third consistory of his papacy on 19 November 2016, elevating 17 new cardinals. Of that total number at the time of their elevation, 13 were under the age of eighty and four were over the age of eighty. Francis continued his previous practice of elevating cardinals from the peripheries with an emphasis again on Asia and Africa, such as Patrick D'Rozario from Bangladesh and Dieudonné Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic, while also naming the first three American cardinals of his papacy and only one Curial appointment.[273]
The pope presided over a fourth consistory for the elevation of five new cardinals on the afternoon of 28 June 2017. Each of the five were under the age of eighty and were thus eligible to vote in a papal conclave. This consistory was noteworthy for the fact that, with the pope continuing the trend of elevating cardinals from a diverse range of areas, no cardinals elevated are of the Roman Curia, and one was a mere auxiliary bishop.[274]
Francis presided over his fifth consistory for the elevation of 14 new cardinals on 28 June 2018. The first eleven were under the age of eighty, and therefore, were eligible to vote in a future papal conclave while the last three were over the age of eighty, and thus, ineligible to vote in a papal conclave.[275] The pope continued the practice of naming the Vicar of Rome and a curial prefect as cardinals, while naming his substitute for the Secretariat of State in anticipation of his transferral to a curial department. The pope also continued his practice of bestowing the red hat on those from peripheries such as Madagascar, Pakistan, and Iraq, and like in 2016, created a priest as a cardinal. The consistory was also noteworthy for the fact that Francis named the papal almoner Konrad Krajewski as a cardinal, marking the consistory the first occasion where the almoner was made a cardinal. Francis himself later said that he wanted the office of almoner to receive the red hat going forward as it was an important arm of the Vatican.[276]
On 1 September 2019, following his weekly Sunday Angelus address, Francis unexpectedly announced the appointment of 13 new cardinals. Of these, 10 appointees were under the age of 80 and would therefore become cardinal electors, besides three over 80. The new cardinals were formally installed at the consistory celebrated on 5 October 2019.[277] Most of the new cardinals come from the peripheries of the church and developing countries. Two new appointees were from Muslim majority countries (Morocco and Indonesia), while two others were known for their work on refugee and migration issues.[278] This action took the number of cardinal electors appointed by Francis to the College of Cardinals to about 70 out of nearly 130.[277]
Francis created thirteen new cardinals on 28 November 2020; nine appointees were under the age of 80, therefore, could vote in a future papal conclave.[279] The pope also nominated four cardinals over the age of 80. Most of these new appointees continued the trend that Francis adhered to, appointing the first cardinals to represent Brunei and Rwanda. Francis also nominated the first African American cardinal (Gregory), while naming the first Conventual Franciscan (Gambetti) in almost 160 years, and the first from Siena (Lojudice) since 1801.[280] Three of his appointees were only priests upon their nomination, therefore, two (Gambetti and Feroci) received their episcopal consecration, while one (Cantalamessa) was granted a papal dispensation from it.
Year of Mercy
Francis opens the Holy Door, marking the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
Main article: Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
With his April 2015 papal bull of indiction, Misericordiae Vultus (Latin: "The Face of Mercy"), Francis inaugurated a Special Jubilee Year of Mercy, to run from 8 December 2015, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the last Sunday before Advent and the Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the King of the Universe on 20 November 2016.
The Holy Doors of the major basilicas of Rome (including the Great Door of St. Peter's) were opened, and special "Doors of Mercy" were opened at cathedrals and other major churches around the world, where the faithful can earn indulgences by fulfilling the usual conditions of prayer for the pope's intentions, confession, and detachment from sin, and communion.[281][282] During Lent of that year, special 24-hour penance services will be celebrated, and during the year, special qualified and experienced priests called "Missionaries of Mercy" will be available in every diocese to forgive even severe, special-case sins normally reserved to the Holy See's Apostolic Penitentiary.[283][284]
Francis established the World Day of the Poor in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera, issued on 20 November 2016 to celebrate the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.[285][286]
COVID-19 pandemic
See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Francis cancelled his regular general audiences at St. Peter's Square to prevent crowds from gathering and spreading the virus, which seriously affected Italy.[287] He encouraged priests to visit patients and health workers;[288] urged the faithful not to forget the poor during the time of crisis;[289] offered prayers for people with the virus in China;[290] and invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title Salus Populi Romani, as the Diocese of Rome observed a period of prayer and fasting in recognition of the victims.[291] The pontiff reacted with displeasure on 13 March 2020, at the news that the Vicar General had closed all churches in the Diocese of Rome. Despite Italy being under a quarantine lockdown, Francis pleaded "not to leave the ... people alone" and worked to partially reverse the closures.
On 20 March 2020, Francis asked the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) to create a Vatican COVID-19 Commission to express the church's concern for the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and propose responses to the potential socio-economic challenges deriving from it.[292][293]
On 27 March, Francis gave an extraordinary benediction Urbi et Orbi.[294] In his homily on calming the storm in the Gospel of Mark, Francis described the setting: "Dense darkness has thickened on our squares, streets and cities; it looks over our lives filling everything with a deafening silence and a desolate void that paralyzes everything in its passage: you can feel it in the air, you can feel it in your gestures. ...In the face of suffering, where the true development of our peoples is measured, we discover and experience the priestly prayer of Jesus: 'may all be one'."[295]
Francis maintains getting COVID vaccination is a moral obligation. Francis stated that people had a responsibility to look after themselves, "and this translates into respect for the health of those around us. Health care is a moral obligation."[296]
In response to the economic harm created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Francis stated that now is the time to consider implementing a universal basic wage.[297]
Russo-Ukrainian War
Francis and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva both tried to find a peaceful solution to the war between Russia and Ukraine
Following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Francis visited the Russian embassy in Rome in what was described as an "unprecedented move".[298] Francis called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating his "sorrow" as the Vatican worked to find "room for negotiation".[299] As the invasion began, the major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav Shevchuk cancelled a trip to visit Francis in Florence.[300] On 25 February, the day after the invasion began, Francis would assure Shevchuk via a phone call that "he would do everything he can to help end the Ukraine conflict".[301] During the 27 February Angelus address, Francis called for peace, saying, "Silence the weapons!"[302] Francis also sent two high-ranking cardinals with aid to Ukraine at the beginning of March.[303] These special envoys were the papal almsgiver, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, who is head of the papal office that deals with migration, charity, justice and peace. This mission, which involved several trips,[304][305] was considered a highly unusual move of Vatican diplomacy.[306] Pope Francis consecrated both Russia and Ukraine on 25 March 2022 (see consecration of Russia).[307]
In mid-May 2022, Francis described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented[.]"[308] Francis explained that this observation did not mean he was "pro-Putin": "It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing. I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys, without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex."[308]
On 24 August 2022, Pope Francis described the killing of Darya Dugina as a case of innocents paying for the Russo-Ukrainian War. On the same day, the Ukraine's envoy to the Holy See protested against such a description of the killing, saying that Dugina was "one of ideologists of (Russian) imperialism" and therefore not an innocent victim.[309]
In September 2022, Francis pointed out that Ukraine has a lawful right to defend itself, and that dialogue with the aggressor is necessary even when "it stinks" and later said that Ukrainians were noble people who were victims of savageness, monstrosities and torture.[310][311]
On 2 October 2022, Francis directly addressed Putin and Zelenskyy, making an impassioned appeal to Putin to halt the "spiral of violence and death", saying that a nuclear escalation would bring "uncontrollable global consequences". Addressing Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, Pope Francis asked him to be open about "serious peace proposals" at the same time that Francis recognized that Ukraine had suffered an "aggression" and that he "pained about the suffering of the Ukrainian people".[312]
In November 2022, Francis granted an interview to Christian magazine America. During the interview, in response to a question asking him about his "seeming unwillingness to directly criticize Russia" and why he was "preferring instead to speak more generally of the need for an end to war, an end to mercenary activity rather than Russian attacks, and to the traffic in arms", Francis notably stated: "[...] When I speak about Ukraine, I speak about the cruelty because I have much information about the cruelty of the troops that come in. Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens and Buryats and so on [...]".[313] These remarks were strongly condemned by Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who expressed that the comments were "no longer Russophobia, [they] are a perversion on a level I can't even name". Others remarked that his statement was "racist" and that there was no data supporting this claim concerning Russian soldiers who are non-ethnic Russians.[314] Francis also stated during the interview: "Certainly, the one who invades is the Russian state. This is very clear."[313]
On 30 April 2023, Francis announced that the Vatican is taking part in a secret "peace mission" to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.[315]
In February 2024, Francis stated that "those who have the courage to raise the white flag and to negotiate are stronger" — wording that was interpreted by many as a call for Ukraine to negotiate terms of surrender. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a pointed late-evening statement Sunday: "This is what the church is — it is together with people, not two and a half thousand kilometres away somewhere, virtually mediating between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy." German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that she "didn’t understand" the pope's comments and suggested he needed to visit Ukraine to see the damage brought by the invasion. Politico noted that a similar remark drew controversy in August 2023, angering "Kyiv and its Baltic allies by praising Russia’s imperialist past during a video conference with Russian Catholic youth, whom he called the “heirs of Great Russia.” The Vatican was then forced to issue a clarification, saying Francis had not intended to encourage modern Russian aggression. Regardless, his praise of Peter I and Catherine II, who were responsible for destroying Ukrainian and Polish national movements, went down badly in countries that suffered under the grip of the Russian empire."[316]
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church criticized Pope Francis's remarks, saying:[316]
“Ukrainians cannot surrender because surrender means death. The intentions of Putin and Russia are clear and explicit. In Putin’s mind, there is no such thing as Ukraine, Ukrainian history, language, and independent Ukrainian church life.”
Death penalty
Francis has committed the Catholic Church to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty in any circumstance.[317] In 2018, Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church to read that "in the light of the Gospel" the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and that the Catholic Church "works with determination for its abolition worldwide".[317][318]
In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti, Francis repeated that the death penalty is "inadmissible" and that "there can be no stepping back from this position".[319]
On 9 January 2022, Pope Francis stated in his annual speech to Vatican ambassadors: "The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance".[9]
Role of women
See also: Women in the Catholic Church
On 11 January 2021, Francis allowed bishops to institute women to the ministries of acolyte and lector. While these instituted ministries were previously reserved to men, Catholic women already carry out these duties without institution in most of the world. Francis wrote that these ministries are fundamentally distinct from those reserved to ordained clergy.[320][321][322] In 2023, Francis initiated dialogue on the possibility of female priests and deaconesses.[3][14][15] In an interview for a book released in Italy the same year, Francis stated that "holy orders is reserved for men" but that "the fact that the woman does not access ministerial life is not a deprivation, because her place is much more important".[323]
In February 2021, Francis announced back-to-back appointments of women to take positions that were only held by men in the past. He appointed France's member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, Nathalie Becquart as the first co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. Besides, an Italian magistrate, Catia Summaria also became the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican's Court of Appeals.[324]
On 26 April 2023, Francis announced that 35 women would be allowed to vote at the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (making up "just over 10 percent" of all voters),[325] marking the first time women are allowed to vote at any Catholic Synod of Bishops.[326]
Financial corruption
Francis was mandated by electing cardinals to sort out Vatican finances following scandals during the papacies of Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II. He stated he is determined to end corruption in the Catholic Church but is not very optimistic due to it being a human problem dating back centuries.[327]
Canadian indigenous residential schools
On 24 July 2022, Francis began an apostolic journey to Canada, expressing his sorrow, indignation, and shame over the church's abuse of Canadian indigenous children in residential schools.[328] Francis described the Canadian Catholic Church's role as compromising a "cultural genocide".[13] He apologized for the church's role in "projects of cultural destruction" and forced assimilation.[328] Francis promised a serious investigation into the history of abuse.[328]
Synod on synodality
Main article: Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on synodality. This synod is described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Church since the Second Vatican Council.[14][15]
COP28
Further information: 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference
In advance to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) Pope Francis issued an apostolic exhortation called Laudate Deum in which he calls for brisk action against the climate crisis and condemns climate change denial.[329][330] In the beginning of November 2023 the Pope announced he will attend the conference and will stay there for three days. It would have been the first time for a Pope to personally visit the United Nations Climate Change conference.[331] Having developed flu-like symptoms in late November, he cancelled his trip on his doctor's orders.[332]
Theological emphases
Main article: Theology of Pope Francis
In Evangelii gaudium Francis revealed what would be the emphases of his pontificate: a missionary impulse among all Catholics, sharing the faith more actively, avoiding worldliness and more visibly living the gospel of God's mercy, and helping the poor and working for social justice.[333]
Evangelization
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § The Church's mission
From his first major letter Evangelii gaudium (Joy to the World), Francis called for "a missionary and pastoral conversion" whereby the laity would fully share in the missionary task of the church.[224][334] Then in his letter on the call of all to the same holiness, Gaudete et exsultate, Francis describes holiness as "an impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in this world".[335]
Church governance
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Church governance
A Carnival float of Francis and Germany's prelate Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, Düsseldorf, 2014
Francis called for decentralization of governance away from Rome, and for a synodal manner of decision making in dialogue with the people.[336] He strongly opposed clericalism[337] and made women full members of the church's dicasteries in Rome.[338]
Environment
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Environmentalism
Francis's naming of himself after Francis of Assisi was an early indication of how he shared Francis's care for all of creation. This was followed in May 2015 with his major encyclical on the environment, Laudato si' (Praise be to you)[339] and in October 2023 by an apostolic exhortation named Laudate Deum in which he calls for decisive action to stop climate change and condemns climate change denial.[329][330] In 2024, Pope Francis organized a climate summit that issued a Planetary Protocol for Climate Change Resilience including three main pillars: reducing greenhouse gas emissions (while prioritizing nature-based solutions), climate change adaptation and societal transformation.[340]
Option for the poor
Francis visits a favela in Brazil during World Youth Day 2013.
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Option for the poor, Theology of Pope Francis § Capitalism, and Theology of Pope Francis § Liberation Theology
Francis has highly extolled "popular movements", which demonstrate the "strength of us", serve as a remedy to the "culture of the self", and are based on solidarity with the poor and the common good.[341]
Morality
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Morality as a vehicle of God's mercy, Theology of Pope Francis § Sexual morality as Good News, and Pope Francis and LGBT topics
Cardinal Walter Kasper has called mercy "the key word of his pontificate".[342]: 31–32 His papal motto Miserando atque eligendo ("by having mercy and by choosing") contains a central theme of his papacy, God's mercy,[343][344] While maintaining the Catholic Church's traditional teaching against abortion, Francis, has referred to the "obsession" of some Catholics with a few issues like "abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods" which "do not show the heart of the message of Jesus Christ".[345]
Sex
See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Sexual morality as Good News
Pope Francis has described sexual pleasure as "a gift from God" that should be "disciplined with patience".[346] On 17 January 2024 he discussed sex at his weekly general audience saying that it was undermined by pornography, which provides "satisfaction without relationship that can generate forms of addiction".[347] He added that "in Christianity, there is no condemnation of the sexual instinct" and that the human experience of falling in love is "one of the purest feelings."[347]
LGBT
Main article: Pope Francis and LGBT topics
Francis has marked a significantly more accommodative tone on LGBT topics than his predecessors.[348] In July 2013, his televised "Who am I to judge?" statement was widely reported in the international press, becoming one of his most famous statements on LGBT people.[349][350][351] In other public statements, Francis has emphasised the need to accept, welcome, and accompany LGBT people,[352][353][354] including LGBT children,[355][356] and has denounced laws criminalizing homosexuality.[357][350][358] While he has reiterated traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman,[359][360] he has supported same-sex civil unions as legal protections for same-sex couples.[356][361] Under his pontificate, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed that transgender people can be baptised,[362][363] and allowed the blessing of same-sex couples in the document Fiducia supplicans.[364] Francis has privately met many LGBT people and activists. In 2013, Francis was named as Person of the Year by The Advocate, an American LGBT magazine.[365]
Relative to LGB topics, Francis has been less accommodative on transgender topics,[348] describing gender theory and children's education on gender-affirming surgery as "ideological colonisation".[366][349] In September 2015, Francis came under media scrutiny for meeting Kim Davis, a county clerk who was imprisoned for refusing to issue marriage licences for same-sex couples,[367][368] and in August 2018, Francis was criticized for suggesting that gay children seek psychiatric treatment.[369] As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio led public opposition to the parliamentary bill on legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina, which was approved by the Argentine Senate on 15 July 2010.[370] A letter he wrote in that campaign was criticized for using "mediaeval" and "obscurantist" language,[371][372][373] and was later admitted by an episcopal source to be a strategic error that contributed to the bill's success.[374]
Religious persecution
Further information: Persecution of Christians by ISIL
Francis supported the use of force to stop Islamic militants from attacking religious minorities in Iraq.[375] In January 2018, Francis met with a group of Yazidi refugees in Europe and expressed his support for their right to freely profess their own faith without limitations. In the meeting, he also urged the international community "not to remain a silent and unresponsive spectator in the face of [your] tragedy".[376]
Controversies
Since 2016, criticism against Francis by theological conservatives has intensified.[377][378][379][380][381] One commentator has described the conservative resistance against Francis as "unique in its visibility" in recent church history.[382] Some have explained the level of disagreement as due to his going beyond theoretical principles to pastoral discernment.[383]
Sexual abuse response
See also: Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
As cardinal, in 2010 Bergoglio commissioned a study which concluded that Father Julio César Grassi, a priest convicted of child sexual abuse, was innocent, that his victims were lying, and that the case against him never should have gone to trial.[384] Despite the study, the Supreme Court of Argentina upheld the conviction and 15-year prison sentence against Grassi in March 2017.[384] Francis has admitted that the church "arrived late" in dealing with sexual abuse cases.[385] During his papacy, a number of abuse survivors have expressed disappointment in Francis's response to sex abuse in the church,[386] while others have praised him for his actions.[387]
In 2015, Francis was criticized for supporting Chilean bishop Juan Barros, who was accused of covering up sex crimes committed against minors.[388] In 2018, Francis acknowledged he had made "grave errors" in judgement about Barros, apologized to the victims and launched a Vatican investigation that resulted in the resignation of Barros and two other Chilean bishops.[389] In 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò published an open letter denouncing Francis's handling of sexual abuse allegations against Theodore McCarrick, accusing him of knowing about allegations that McCarrick had committed sexual abuse and failing to take action. Viganò called on the Pope to resign.[390]
In November 2021, Francis thanked journalists for their work uncovering child sexual abuse scandals in the church, thanking journalists also for "helping us not to sweep it under the carpet, and for the voice you have given to the abuse victims".[391]
In November 2022, French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard admitted to having sexually abused a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s in Marseille. Ricard (who was named as Cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2006[392]), said that he committed "reprehensible" acts with the girl while he was a priest. French authorities opened an investigation into the case while Francis commented that now that "everything is clearer [...] more cases like this shouldn't surprise [anyone]", and added condemnation for sexual abuse, saying it's "against priestly nature, and also against social nature".[393][394]
Theological disagreements
Amoris laetitia and the communion to the divorced and civilly remarried
Main article: Amoris laetitia
On a theological level, controversy arose after the publication of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, especially regarding whether the exhortation had changed the Catholic Church's sacramental discipline concerning access to the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist for divorced couples who have civilly remarried.[395] Francis had written: "It is important that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church." He called not for "a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases", but "a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases". He went on to say: "It is true that general rules set forth a good which can never be disregarded or neglected, but in their formulation they cannot provide absolutely for all particular situations."[396]
Four cardinals (Raymond Leo Burke, Carlo Caffarra, Walter Brandmüller, and Joachim Meisner) formally asked Francis for clarifications, particularly on the issue of giving communion to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.[397] They submitted five "dubia" (doubts), and requested a yes or no answer. Francis has not publicly replied.[398] The exhortation has been implemented in different ways by various bishops around the world.[399]
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, maintained that Amoris Laetitia should only be interpreted in line with previous doctrine. Therefore, according to Cardinal Müller, divorced and civilly remarried can have access to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist only if they take on the duty of living in complete continence.[400][401] Francis subsequently announced that dicastery prefects would be appointed for a single five-year term, and replaced Müller at the end of his term in 2017 with Luis Ladaria Ferrer.[402] Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, one of the authors of the dubia, maintains that after Amoris laetitia "only a blind man could deny there's great confusion, uncertainty and insecurity in the Church".[403]
In July 2017 a group of conservative clergy, academics and laymen signed a document labelled as a "Filial Correction" of Francis.[404] The 25-page document, which was made public in September after it received no reply, criticized the pope for promoting what it described as seven heretical propositions through various words, actions and omissions during his pontificate.[405] Capuchin Father Thomas Weinandy, ex-doctrine chief of US Bishops, wrote a letter to Francis on 31 July 2017, which he subsequently made public, in which he charged that Francis is fostering "chronic confusion", "demeaning" the importance of doctrine, appointing bishops who "scandalize" believers with dubious "teaching and pastoral practice", giving prelates who object the impression they will be "marginalized or worse" if they speak out, and causing faithful Catholics to "lose confidence in their supreme shepherd".[406]
A defence of Amoris Laetitia came from philosopher Rocco Buttiglione who accused its critics of "ethical objectivism". He said that the critics cannot deny that "there are mitigating circumstances in which a mortal sin (a sin that would otherwise be mortal) becomes a lighter sin, a venial sin. There are therefore some cases in which remarried divorcees can (through their confessor and after an adequate spiritual discernment) be considered in God's grace and therefore deserving of receiving the sacraments".[407]
Document on Human Fraternity
Main article: Document on Human Fraternity
The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together is a joint statement signed by Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This joint statement is concerned with how different faiths can live peaceably in the same world and areas and later inspired the International Day of Human Fraternity, as acknowledged by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in different occasions.[408][409] Criticisms focused particularly on the passage about God's will with regard to the diversity of religions, claiming that the "pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings".[410][411] Catholic theologian Chad Pecknold wrote that this sentence was "puzzling, and potentially problematic".[412] Some Catholic observers tried to understand it as an allusion to the "permissive will" of God, allowing evil on earth.[411] Pecknold wrote that the diversity of religions might also be "evidence of our natural desire to know God".[412] Bishop Athanasius Schneider claims that Pope Francis clarified to him that he was referring to "the permissive will of God".[413]
Traditionis custodes and the restriction of the Tridentine Mass
Main article: Traditionis custodes
In July 2021, Francis issued, motu proprio, the apostolic letter titled Traditionis custodes, which reversed the decision of his immediate predecessor Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum and imposed new restrictions on the use of the Traditional Latin Mass. The letter returned to the bishops the power to grant or suppress the Latin Mass in their particular dioceses, and requires newly ordained priests to first request permission before performing the old rite, among other changes.[414][415] Traditionis custodes, which Pope Francis published and came into immediate effect on 16 July, has been criticized by prelates such as Cardinals Raymond Burke, Gerhard Müller and Joseph Zen, as well as many lay faithful who attend the traditional Latin Mass. The most general criticism is that the restrictions are unnecessary, needlessly harsh, and implemented in an unjustifiably swift fashion."[416] The motu proprio was later confirmed by Francis through the apostolic letter Desiderio desideravi.[417]
Fiducia supplicans and the blessing of couples in irregular situations
Main article: Fiducia supplicans
In December 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration, Fiducia supplicans, approved by Francis.[418] Fiducia supplicans intended to provide clarification and reforms on the Catholic Church's treatment of "irregular relationships", defined as those who establish a monogamous and emotional bond that lasts over time and have not contracted a Catholic marriage. Notably, it allows Catholic priests to perform "spontaneous blessings" of same-sex couples, as well as opposite-sex couples who are not married, and civilly married couples at least one party of which was previously divorced but has not received an annulment.[419]
Fiducia supplicans sparked considerable controversy and criticism among Catholics, including from several conservative commentators, clerical congregations, and high-profile cardinals, bishops, priests, and lay people.[420][421][422] Cardinal Gerhard Müller called it "sacrilegious and blasphemous" and "self-contradictory".[423] Cardinal Robert Sarah described the blessing of couples in irregular situations as "a heresy that seriously undermines the Church".[424] On 11 January 2024, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu announced that all episcopal conferences in Africa, represented in SECAM, would reject blessings for same-sex couples, stating that "the extra-liturgical blessings proposed in the declaration...cannot be carried out in Africa without exposing themselves to scandals".[425][426]
International policy
Francis with Cuban leader Raúl Castro in September 2015
Francis has regularly been accused by conservatives of having a "soft spot" for leftist populist movements.[427] After Francis's visit to Cuba in 2015, Catholic Yale historian Carlos Eire said Francis had a "preferential option for the oppressors" in Cuba.[428] Francis is hostile to right-wing populism.[429] Since 2016, Francis has been contrasted with US President Donald Trump,[430] elected that year, with some conservative critics drawing comparisons between the two.[431][432] During the 2016 United States presidential election, Francis said of Trump, "A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. That is not the gospel." Trump responded, "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful."[12] Federico Lombardi said that Francis's comments were not "a personal attack, nor an indication of who to vote for".[433]
Francis has supported the Vatican-China agreement, intended to normalize the situation of China's Catholics,[434] which was criticized by Cardinal Joseph Zen as a step toward the "annihilation" of the Catholic Church in China.[435][436] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party puts the pope's moral authority at risk.[437] In September 2020, Pompeo urged Francis to stand against China's human rights violations.[438] In November, Francis named China's Uyghur minority among a list of the world's persecuted peoples. He wrote: "I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya [Muslims in Myanmar], the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi—what ISIS did to them was truly cruel—or Christians in Egypt and Pakistan killed by bombs that went off while they prayed in church." Zhao Lijian, the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of China, said Francis's remarks had "no factual basis at all".[439]
Francis with U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania in 2017
In response to criticism from Venezuela's bishops, President Nicolás Maduro said in 2017 that he had the support of Francis.[440][441] Francis met with the country's bishops in June 2017, and the Venezuelan bishops' conference president stated, "There is no distance between the episcopal conference and the Holy See."[442] In January 2019, 20 former presidents in Latin America wrote a letter to Francis criticizing his Christmas address regarding the ongoing Venezuelan crisis for being too simplistic and for not acknowledging what they believed to be the causes of the suffering of the victims of the crisis.[443] Francis has sought peace in the crisis without picking a side.[444]
In 2019, during the Hong Kong protests, Francis was criticized by Catholic clergy in Hong Kong, with Cardinal Joseph Zen criticizing him for not taking a stand against China and instead being quoted as saying "I would like to go to China. I love China". Francis compared the protests in Hong Kong to those seen in Chile and in France.[445]
International diplomatic role
Map indicating countries visited by Francis as pope
Francis played a key role in the talks toward restoring full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The restoration was jointly announced by U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro on 17 December 2014. The headline in the Los Angeles Times on 19 December was "Bridge to Cuba via Vatican", with the further lead "In a rare and crucial role, Francis helped keep U.S. talks with Havana on track and guided final deal."[446] The pope, along with the Government of Canada, was a behind-the-scenes broker of the agreement, taking the role following President Obama's request during his visit to the pope in March 2014.[447] The success of the negotiations was credited to Francis because "as a religious leader with the confidence of both sides, he was able to convince the Obama and Castro administrations that the other side would live up to the deal".[446] En route to the United States for a visit in September 2015, the pope stopped in Cuba. "The plan comes amid a breakthrough for which Francis has received much credit."[448] The Cuba visit "seals that accomplishment, in which he served as a bridge between two erstwhile enemies".[448] According to one expert on religion in Latin America, Mario Paredes, the pope's visit to Cuba was consistent with his aim to promote an understanding of the role of the Cuban Revolution and that of the Catholic Church. When Francis was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he authored a text entitled "Dialogues Between John Paul II and Fidel Castro".[448] John Paul was the first pope to visit Cuba. In May 2015, Francis met with Cuban leader Raúl Castro. After the meeting in Vatican City on 10 May 2015, Castro said that he was considering returning to the Catholic Church.[449] He said in a televised news conference, "I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the [Catholic] church. I am not joking."[450] Castro said that, when the pope came, "I promise to go to all his Masses and with satisfaction".[450]
Francis with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, 14 August 2014
In May 2014, his visit to the State of Israel, where he delivered 13 speeches, was heavily publicized.[451] Protests against his visit resulted in an alleged arson attempt at the Dormition Abbey.[452] The cave under the Church of the Nativity caught fire the night after his visit.[453]
In May 2015, Francis welcomed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican. Several media outlets reported that Francis praised Abbas as "an angel of peace", though his actual words were the following: "The angel of peace destroys the evil spirit of war. I thought about you: may you be an angel of peace."[454] The Vatican signed a treaty recognizing the state of Palestine.[455] The Vatican issued statements concerning the hope that the peace talks could resume between Israel and Palestine. Abbas's visit was on the occasion of the canonization of two Palestinian nuns.[456]
Crowd at the Koševo City Stadium in Sarajevo, celebrating a mass with Francis, June 2015
On 6 June 2015, Francis visited Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He urged peace during his time in the religiously diverse city, known as the "Jerusalem of Europe".[457]
On 25 September 2015, Francis addressed the United Nations in New York City.[458]
On 16 April 2016, he visited, together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronimos II of Athens, the Moria Refugee Camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, to call the attention of the world to the refugee issue. There the three Christian leaders signed a joint declaration.[459]
In January 2017, Francis demanded the resignation of Matthew Festing, the 79th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Pope's demand came as a response to Festing and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke firing Baron Albrecht von Boeselager from his position in the Order of Malta. The Order, in May 2017, appointed a new leader in the person of Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto.[460]
Francis shaking hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin, 10 June 2015
On 24 May 2017, Francis met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Vatican City, where they discussed the contributions of Catholics to the United States and to the world. They discussed issues of mutual concern, including how religious communities can combat human suffering in crisis regions, such as Syria, Libya, and ISIS-controlled territory. They also discussed terrorism and the radicalization of young people. The Vatican's secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, raised the issue of climate change and encouraged Trump to remain in the Paris Agreement.[461] At the 2017 World Food Day ceremony, Francis reiterated that "we see the consequences [of climate change] every day" and that we "know how the problems are to be faced ... [t]hanks to scientific knowledge." He said that "the international community has drawn up the necessary legal instruments, such as the Paris Agreement, from which however some are withdrawing. There is a re-emergence of the nonchalance towards the delicate balances of ecosystems, the presumption of being able to manipulate and control the planet's limited resources, and greed for profit."[462]
Francis visited Ireland in 2018, in what was the first papal tour of the country since John Paul II's historic trip in 1979.[463] While in Ireland he apologized for abuses by clergy in the United States and Ireland.[464]
Francis in Bethlehem, Palestine, 25 May 2014
In February 2019, Francis visited Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the invitation of Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Francis became the first pope to hold a papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula, with more than 120,000 attendees in the Zayed Sports City Stadium on 5 February.[465]
Francis made the plight of refugees and migrants "a core component of his pastoral work", and has defended their rights in dialogue both with Europe and with the United States. He went on to place a statue in St. Peter's Square to bring attention to the Christian imperative involved in their situation (Hebrews 13:2).[466][467][468] In line with this policy, Francis has criticized neo-nationalists and populists who reject the acceptance of refugees.[469][470]
In March 2021, Pope Francis held a historic meeting with Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and visited the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, Ur. Giving a message of peaceful coexistence, he and the Iraqi cleric urged the Muslim and Christian communities to work together in unity for peace.[471][472]
Francis with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his family, Vatican City, June 2018
On 9 May 2021, Francis called for peace between Israel and Palestinians and an end to clashes in Jerusalem during his Regina caeli address.[473][474]
Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country, Francis said that the withdrawal of troops was "legitimate" but said that the process of evacuations was "not thought through" and criticized the war for having failed at nation-building. He also stated that the Vatican is in talks with the Taliban through Cardinal Pietro Parolin to discourage the Taliban on taking reprisal measures against civilians.[475][476]
On 1 September 2021, Francis publicly defended the dialogue with China on the appointment of new bishops. Francis stated that uneasy dialogue was better than no dialogue at all, and emphasized in improving strained ties with the Chinese government.[477]
On All Souls' Day, on 1 November 2021, Francis visited a war cemetery in Rome and paid tribute to fallen soldiers during the Battle of Anzio in World War II as well as at the Piave River, in Italy, during World War I. Francis also praised military casualties for "fighting for their homeland and values" and called for global peace.[478][479]
Pope Francis with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in 2022
On 16 April 2022, Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov attended Easter services in the Vatican with the Pope. Ukrainian politicians Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko, and Rusem Umerov were also in attendance.
Pope Francis said: "In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer", further stating "the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen", speaking the last three words in Ukrainian.[480]
On 25 July 2022, at the Powwow ceremonial grounds on the Cree Nation reservation in Edmonton, Canada, the Pope expressed "deep sorrow" at the Cemetery. "I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples", Francis said.[481] Four chiefs escorted the pontiff to the site near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, and presented him with a feathered headdress after he spoke, making him an honorary leader of the community.[482]
In January 2023, in an interview with the Associated Press, Francis called the criminalization of homosexuality "unjust", calling on the Catholic Church to work towards its abolition by "distinguish[ing] between a sin and crime". He called on bishops supporting such laws to "have a process of conversion".[357] Francis repeated his condemnation the following month, saying that "criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice".[350]
Francis condemned Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel. He also criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war, saying that "terror should not justify terror".[483] He condemned the killing of two Palestinian Christian women by an IDF sniper in Gaza, calling it "terrorism".[484] Throughout the war, Francis has called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages,[485] and the establishment of a two-state solution.[486]
Public image
See also: List of places and things named after Pope Francis
External videos
video icon Why the only future worth building includes everyone, TED talks, April 2017, 17:51, in Italian with subtitles in 22 languages
Popular mainstream media frequently portray Francis either as a progressive papal reformer or with liberal, moderate values.[487] The Vatican has claimed that Western news outlets often seek to portray his message with a less-doctrinal tone of papacy, in hopes of extrapolating his words to convey a more merciful and tolerant message.[488][489] In the news media, both faithful and non-believers often refer to a "honeymoon" phase in which the pope has changed the tone on Catholic doctrines and supposedly initiated ecclesiastical reform in the Vatican.[490][491][492] Media systems differ, too, not only in their coverage of Francis's stances but also in how individual events are portrayed. His 2015 trip to Cuba is a prime example. During this trip, American-based AP and British-based Reuters highlighted the religious aspect of the pope's journey while Prensa Latina, the official state media agency, depicted it as a diplomatic visit. American and British media were also more likely during this trip to show Francis interacting with regular Cubans compared to the official Cuban media, which showed Francis interacting with elites most often.[493]
In December 2013, both Time and The Advocate magazines named the Pontiff as their "Person of the Year" in praise and hopes of reforming the Roman Curia while hoping to change the Catholic Church's doctrine on various controversial issues. In addition, Esquire magazine named him as the "Best-dressed man" for 2013 for his simpler vestments often in tune with a modern simplistic design on sartorial fashion.[494] Rolling Stone magazine followed in January 2014 by making the Pontiff their featured front cover.[495][496] Fortune magazine also ranked Francis as number one in their list of 50 greatest leaders.[497] On 5 November 2014, he was ranked by Forbes as the fourth most powerful person in the world and was the only non-political figure in the top ranking.[498] In December 2016, Francis again made Forbes's list of "The World's Most Powerful People", ranking fifth.[499]
In March 2013, a new song was dedicated to Francis and released in Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, and Italian, titled Come Puoi ("How You Can").[145] Also in March, Pablo Buera, the mayor of La Plata, Argentina, announced that the city had renamed a section of a street leading up to a local cathedral Papa Francisco.[500] There are already efforts to name other streets after him, as well as a school where he studied as a child.[500] A proposal to create a commemorative coin as a tribute to Francis was made in Argentina's lower house on 28 November 2013. On the coins it would read, "Tribute from the Argentine People to Pope Francis" beneath his face.[501] As of May 2013, sales of papal souvenirs, a sign of popularity, were up.[502]
Francis presided over his first joint public wedding ceremony in a Nuptial Mass for 20 couples from the Archdiocese of Rome on 14 September 2014, just a few weeks before the start of the 5–19 October Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family.[503][e]
On 19 March 2016, Francis became the first pope to create an Instagram account.[505] He broke records after having gained over one million followers in under twelve hours of the account being up.[506] In 2019 Francis held a conference on the World Day of Social Communications highlighting the pros and cons of social media and urging users to use it as a source that liberates rather than enslaves.[507] On 26 November 2020 Francis became the first pope to write an op-ed for The New York Times, addressing issues such as the coronavirus and the need for global solidarity.[508] The Pontiff also used his op-ed to strongly critique those protesting COVID-19 restrictions.[509]
In August 2021, rumours of a possible resignation arose due to health issues,[510] but he dismissed those rumours in early September 2021, saying that he is "living a normal life".[511] In June 2022, the Pope's health was an issue again when he had to cancel his trips to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. The Vatican said that the decision was at the request of the doctors treating his knee, in order to not jeopardize the results of the therapy.[512] In an interview with Reuters in July 2022, Francis denied rumours about his resignation, saying "[it] never entered my mind. For the moment no, for the moment, no. Really!", but said that he would resign if his health made it impossible for him to run the church.[513] During his trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in February 2023, Francis shifted away from rumours of an imminent resignation. In a conversation with African Jesuits, Francis said that for pontiffs to resign should not become a "fashion" and that his own resignation was "not in his agenda at the moment".[514] Nearly one million people came for Pope Francis's mass in Kinshasa in the DRC. He addressed people to be in peace and leave weapons. He told people to "put down your arms and embrace mercy".[515]
Pope Francis celebrating Holy Mass in Kossuth tér, Budapest
In March 2023, Pope Francis was hospitalized in Rome with a respiratory infection.[516] The Pope returned to celebrate public mass at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, for the first time since recovering from bronchitis.[517]
While visiting Hungary for three days, on 30 April 2023, Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass in Kossuth square, Budapest, Hungary.[518][519]
In June 2023, Pope Francis underwent abdominal surgery after suffering from a hernia. The Pope received the surgery at Gemelli Hospital, and spent several days in the hospital while recovering.[520]
Distinctions
Titles and styles
The official form of address of the pope in English is His Holiness Pope Francis; in Latin, Franciscus, Episcopus Romae. Holy Father is among the other honorifics used for popes.[521]
Foreign orders
Bolivia: : Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes (9 July 2015)[522][523]
Bolivia: Order of Merit "Father Luis Espinal Camps" (9 July 2015)[522][523]
Poland: : Order of the Smile (26 April 2016)[524]
Awards
Germany: International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen 2016.[525]
"Person of the Year" by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (2015) for his request that all Catholics be kind to animals.[526]
Was made an honorary Harlem Globetrotter on 7 May 2015.[527]
Zayed Award for Human Fraternity in October 2020 for significant contributions to the service of humanity from around the world.[528][529]
Brazil: Francis was awarded the Medalha Mérito Legislativo by the Congress of Brazil in November 2021.[530]
Grand Chief Willie Littlechild gifted Pope Francis with the Indigenous Name Wapikihew (White Eagle) on behalf of the Ermineskin Cree Nation and presented him with a tradition Cree War bonnet following the Pope's apology to the Indigenous peoples in Canada at Maskwacis, Alberta on 25 July 2022.[531][532]
Honorific eponyms and dedications
Francis and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III in Manila, 16 January 2015
Philippines: The Pope Francis Center for the Poor – Palo, Leyte (12 July 2015)[533]
Ennio Morricone composed a Mass setting (Missa Papae Francisci) named after the pope, for the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Jesuit order. The performance aired on Rai 5 and was attended by former Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and other dignitaries.[534][535][536]
The composer Ludger Stühlmeyer dedicated his work Klangrede – Sonnengesang des Franziskus, for choir (SATB) and instruments – to Pope Francis (Suae Sanctitati Papae Francisci dedicat.). First performance: Capella Mariana 4 October 2015.[537]
Appreciation
In the oratorio Laudato si' by Peter Reulein (music) written on a libretto by Helmut Schlegel OFM, the figure of Francis appears next to Mary, Francis of Assisi, and Clare of Assisi. In the oratorio, Pope Franziskus suggests a bridge from the crucifixion scene on Golgotha to the suffering of the present. He emphasizes the female talent and the importance of the charism of women for church and society. The texts of the encyclicals Laudato si' and Evangelii gaudium were used. The motto of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy also plays a central role.[538] The oratorio was premiered on 6 November 2016 in the Limburg Cathedral.[539]
Coat of arms
Main article: Coat of arms of Pope Francis
Further information: Papal coats of arms
Coat of arms of Pope Francis
Notes
Pope Francis's initial grant of arms by the Holy See was as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, when he was Cardinal Bergoglio,[137] in which the depiction of the Star and Spikenard were tinctured Argent.
Following his election as Pontiff these are now tinctured Or. The first version of His Holiness's arms released by the Vatican Press Office depicted a five-pointed Star from Bergoglio's archiepiscopal version, but upon election as Pope his coat of arms assumed an eight-pointed star with the representation of the spikenard also being suitably differenced.
Crest
Not applicable to prelates
Helm
Bishop's mitre
Escutcheon
Azure on a Sun in Splendour Or the IHS Christogram ensigned with a Cross Paté fiché piercing the H Gules all above three Nails fanwise points to centre Sable, and in dexter base a Mullet of eight points and in sinister base a Spikenard flower Or[540]
Motto
MISERANDO ATQUE ELIGENDO
(Latin for "BY GIVING MERCY AND BY CHOOSING")
Other elements
Keys of Peter behind HH's shield and Papal mantling
Symbolism
(On the shield) Jesuit emblem: In reference to Francis being a Jesuit, the uppermost charge on the shield is the emblem of the Society of Jesus.[541] This charge displays a radiating sun within which is the monogram of the Holy Name of Jesus in red, with a red cross surmounting the H and three black nails below the H.[541] Eight-pointed star: a long-standing symbol of the Virgin Mary. Spikenard alias nard: this flower represents Saint Joseph; in Hispanic iconographic tradition St Joseph is often depicted holding a branch of spikenard.[542]
Writings
Main article: Pope Francis bibliography
Library resources about
Pope Francis
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
By Pope Francis
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
Pope Francis has written a variety of books, encyclicals, and other writings.
Music album
Main article: Wake Up! (Pope Francis album)
Wake Up! was released on 27 November 2015 by the label Believe Digital and contains speeches by Francis and accompanying music, including rock music.[543][544][545]
Films
Documentary film
By 2015, there were two biographical films about Francis: Call Me Francesco (Italy, 2015), starring Rodrigo de la Serna, and Francis: Pray for me (Argentina, 2015), starring Darío Grandinetti.[546]
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is a documentary film with Swiss-Italian-French-German co-production, co-written and directed by Wim Wenders.[547] It premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United States on 18 May 2018.[548] It includes extensive sections of interviews as well as stock footage from archives.[549]
On 21 October 2020, the documentary Francesco directed by film producer Evgeny Afineevsky premiered.[550][551]
On 4 October 2022, the documentary The Letter: A Message for our Earth premiered on YouTube Originals, directed by Nicolas Brown and produced by Off The Fence in partnership with Laudato Si' Movement.[552]
Portrayal in film
Francis is played by Jonathan Pryce in the biographical drama film The Two Popes (2019), costarring with Anthony Hopkins who plays Pope Benedict XVI.[553]
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17 1936, is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, having been elected Bishop of Rome and absolute Sovereign of Vatican City.
Born in Buenos Aires as the son of Italian parents, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a priest in 1969. From 1973 to 1979 he was Argentina's Provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and a cardinal in 2001. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013, on March 13, 2013 the papal conclave elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European Pope since Pope Gregory III, 1272 years earlier.
Throughout his life, both as an individual and as a religious leader, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and faiths.
Pope Francis has published a compilation of his teachings in two volumes entitled Simple Wisdom: Hold On to Hope, Vol. 1, and Simple Wisdom: The Joy of Evangelization, Vol. 1. He also published his first encyclical entitled The Light of Faith: Lumen Fidei, which is available in English and Spanish.
The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium, recently published, is the long-awaited teaching of Pope Francis on the proclamation of the Gospel. He is calling upon the Church and the world with encouragement to begin a new chapter in evangelization.
Pope Francis has captured the attention of the world with his simple ways, humbleness, and love for the poor and sick.
CBS EVENING NEWS
Pope Francis opens up about personal life, health in new memoir
evening-news
By Seth Doane
March 18, 2024 / 7:41 PM EDT / CBS News
Pope Francis is known for his words spoken from the pulpit, where he makes urgent calls for peace and advocates for migrants and to protect the environment, but a new memoir is revealing another side of the pontiff.
The new book, "Life: My Story Through History" chronicles the 87-year-old's life through major historic events, such as his joy at the end of World War II and cheering the fall of the Berlin Wall. But he also delves into the more intimate, like when he was briefly "dazzled" by a woman so much that it became "difficult to pray."
Co-author Fabio Marchese Ragona got a close look at the personal side of Pope Francis through hours of interviews and revisions.
He told CBS News the memoir was his idea.
"I said that there are many people in the world that don't know him, especially in America, in the states," Ragona said, noting the U.S. was a particular focus because "It's a great country."
Conservative Catholics in the U.S. are among this pope's most vocal critics.
Father Sam Sawyer, a Jesuit like Pope Francis and the editor of the Catholic magazine America, told CBS News he thinks the portion of the book dealing with Pope Benedict XVI and his resignation will get a fair amount of attention.
But Ragona said that, despite Benedict's resignation and Francis' own health concerns, the pope only thinks about resignation because journalists ask about it.
"In the book, we talk about the resignation," Ragona said. "He said, 'I am good right now, I don't think resignation.'"
Francis writes in the book that during hospital stays and medical treatments, he knows others speculate about the next conclave and a new pope.
"Relax. It's human. There's nothing shocking about it," he writes.
Pope Francis used an offensive slur for gay men during a discussion with bishops, sources say
The Vatican apologized Tuesday “to those who were offended” after the pontiff used the derogatory term during a closed-door discussion with Italian bishops last week, two sources who were in the room told NBC News.
Pope Francis during a mass at St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican on May 19, 2024.
Pope Francis reportedly reiterated that gay men should not be allowed to train in seminaries as priests.Andreas Solaro / AFP - Getty Images
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May 28, 2024, 8:07 AM EDT / Updated May 28, 2024, 9:33 AM EDT
By Yuliya Talmazan and Matteo Moschella
Pope Francis used an offensive slur for gay men in a closed-door discussion with Italian bishops last week, two sources who were in the room told NBC News.
The pontiff's use of the derogatory term, first reported by Italian media, led the Vatican to apologize Tuesday “to those who were offended.”
The reported comment came at an assembly of bishops held behind closed doors on May 20. The group was discussing the issue of admitting homosexual men into seminaries when Francis used an Italian term that represents a vulgar way to refer to a gay person, the sources said.
Francis reiterated that gay men should not be allowed to train in seminaries as priests, according to Italian media, which said that his use of the slur left some in the audience surprised given the pope’s track record of a more welcoming approach toward the LGBTQ+ community.
The Vatican responded to the reports on Tuesday, saying that the pope was “aware of articles that recently came out about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops.”
“As he has had the opportunity to state on several occasions, 'In the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone,'” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.
“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term, reported by others,” Bruni added.
First millennial saint could be canonized as early as end of 2025
01:32
The political gossip website Dagospia appears to have been the first to report on the alleged incident, citing multiple “shocked” bishops who took part in the bishop conference.
One of Italy’s largest newspapers, Corriere della Sera, quoted several unnamed bishops suggesting that the pope may not have been aware of how offensive the word is in Italian.
Vatican veteran reporter and author Gerry O’Connell also suggested that the pope’s remark was “a gaffe on the part of the pope, rather than a slur,” as a nonnative Italian speaker.
The alleged comment came as a surprise to many as Francis, 87, is known for having more liberal views than many of his predecessors when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, as well as on other issues such as the role of women in the Catholic Church and the environment.
Last December, he formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples because people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.
In August, he also said that the Catholic Church is open to everyone, including the gay community, and that it has a duty to accompany them on a personal path of spirituality but within the framework of its rules.
Francis set the tone at the beginning of his papacy in 2013 when he made an off-the-cuff remark to reporters that won over many critics who had dismissed the church as close-minded. “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?” he said.
An instruction issued by the Vatican under Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict, in 2005 ruled that those who “practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture” cannot be admitted into the seminary or holy orders.
Pope Francis LIFE HarperOne (NonFiction None) $28.99 3, 19 ISBN: 9780063387522
Memoirs of a modern pope.
Along with contributions by Italian journalist Ragona, Pope Francis (b. 1936) offers an autobiographical look at his entire life. With Ragona's voice as an interlocutor to help steer the narrative, Francis shares intimate memories going back to his childhood in Argentina, when the world was on the verge of war. Francis' voice is homey, honest, and simple as he recalls and reflects on the people and events that have shaped him through the years. His family's origins as immigrants from Italy, and his childhood memories of refugees from the ravages of World War II, were obvious early forces in the development of his views and opinions about displaced people even today. Intriguingly, Francis says little about the vibrant and disruptive political influences in Argentina through many of his formative years, in contrast to the commentators who have speculated about his sympathies for the politics of former President Juan Perón. He does devote a chapter to the "Dirty War" following the Argentine military coup in the 1970s, but he provides only scant glimpses into what were obviously life-changing and, indeed, life-threatening times for the young Jesuit priest. In fact, readers will often find that this work is more of a colorful outline than a complete autobiography. Francis often brings moral lessons and opinions into his stories, and he concludes with his hopes for the church and the broader world. "I still cultivate a dream for the future," he notes, "that our Church might be a meek, humble, servant church, with all the attributes of God." Despite these hopes, he admits, "the Church is full of saints, but in some cases it has become a corrupt Church, precisely because clericalism is corrupt."
A worthwhile read for Christians that whets the appetite for further details about the pope's past.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pope Francis: LIFE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A793537273/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6853deee. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis. I Am Asking in the Name of God: Ten Prayers for a Future of Hope. Image: Crown. Oct. 2023.160p. tr. from Spanish by Stephen R. Di Trolio. ISBN 9780593727522. $22. REL
Following his 2020 Easter sermon, the pope (A Better World), born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, collaborated with Telam senior correspondent Hernan Reyes Alcaide (Latinoamerica) to expand upon that homily. In 10 essays that fall in line with the development of Catholic social teaching since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, the book offers a plea to humanity. It also calls for the Catholic Church to repent from its own sins of child abuse. The fourth essay, "In the Name of God, I Ask for Politics That Works for the Common Good," might be the pivotal contribution. Pope Francis's political view that human beings can be transformed by the institutions they create brings the practical mechanics of societies into the realm of high ideals. Those principles would include concern for refugees and migrants, along with civil discourse and mutual respect for others, regardless of race or other factors that many use to avoid unity. The pope urges readers to strive for international and religious harmony and to take better care of the environment. For those wanting a deeper dive, the book has references to encyclicals and other works. VERDICT Readers interested in a summary of Catholic social teaching will find these essays worthwhile.--James Wetherbee
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"I Am Asking in the Name of God: Ten Prayers for a Future of Hope." Library Journal, vol. 148, no. 10, Oct. 2023, p. 129. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A767645042/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=17778a48. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis I AM ASKING IN THE NAME OF GOD Image (NonFiction None) $22.00 10, 3 ISBN: 9780593727522
Pleas by the pope for a kinder world.
In his latest book, broad in scope yet brief in length, Pope Francis presents readers with 10 requests made "in the name of God." These requests are sweeping in context: an end to war, universal access to health care, fighting against hate speech and fake news, open doors for immigrants and refugees, and "politics that works for a common good." He also asks "that the culture of abuse be eradicated from the Church." These petitions mirror the author's lifelong interest in people living in poverty, under oppression, in places of conflict, and otherwise at the margins of society. Though clearly addressed to everyone, including non-Catholic Christians and those of other faiths or no faith, the book is far from universally accessible. Given Francis' style and approach, readers may picture him delivering a speech to an audience of bishops, with a mix of aspirational and bureaucratic language. On one hand, Francis fills the book with such high-minded statements as, "I call on those in Politics to live daily with a strong sense of austerity and humility." On the other hand, he consistently references and quotes Latin-titled encyclicals and other official church documents, which even many lay Catholics will not recognize or understand in context. The author offers interesting commentary on Catholicism in this moment in time, however. The book serves as an expansion on many of the themes originating in the Second Vatican Council, especially given the pope's calls for ecumenism, caring for the poor, and focusing on human rights, and it would make a good complement to Pope John Paul II's Crossing the Threshold of Hope. Though these two works differ in many ways, they both address universal themes and provide insights into two important modern papacies.
Though lacking universal appeal as a volume of prose, the book promotes positive change for a broken world.
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"Pope Francis: I AM ASKING IN THE NAME OF GOD." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A756872227/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=67d6fb55. Accessed 28 May 2024.
A GIFT OF JOY AND HOPE
POPE FRANCIS
Translated by Oonagh Stransky
208pp. Hodder & Stoughton.
16.99 [pounds sterling].
Three and a half years after a shocking discovery, my heart remained stubbornly broken. Self-help websites were not short of advice: go out, travel, meet new people, throw yourself into work, take up new hobbies. All logical enough, but each suggestion felt almost impossible to put into practice. It was a situation almost guaranteed to cause self-destruction, and I was on the brink of that when A Gift of Joy and Hope came through the letterbox. I needed all the joy and hope I could get, so was keen to discover what the gift contained.
The book is a collection of about 180 extracts from the addresses, homilies and teaching documents of Pope Francis, first published in Italian in 2020 and now translated into English. As the tenth anniversary of his papal election approaches and he prepares the ground for an increasingly likely retirement, especially in light of the recent death of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, his ardent supporters have reason to make the most of him while they can. Original publications by the man himself would help, but he is not a prolific author, so his miscellaneous pronouncements have been sifted, collected, given uplifting headings and grouped into chapters with titles such as "Be hope" and "The gift of a smile". For an eco-warrior pope, recycling could hardly be more appropriate.
Francis likes to keep things simple. Western society overcomplicates, he maintains, so he recommends the "poetry" of eastern culture--older, wiser, simpler and that is the prism through which he teaches the Christian gospel. The result is at the accessible end of the available range. A Gift of Joy and Hope could certainly be used for meditative purposes, though not everyone is required to meditate on the "diseases" afflicting the Roman Curia (the central government of the Catholic Church), which is the subject of the longest extract. However, that will be someone else's problem soon enough, so anyone eligible for election as the next pontiff would do well to read and reflect on it.
Did a non-meditative, rapid cover-to-cover reading work for my broken heart? I needed it to work, so it did. There was a calming effect, akin to the impact of restful music or white noise: spiritual anaesthesia. It appeared that my cries of distress had been heard after all.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 NI Syndication Limited
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/
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Fletcher, Stella. "A GIFT OF JOY AND HOPE." TLS. Times Literary Supplement, no. 6252, 27 Jan. 2023, p. 24. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A736601444/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e561bf6f. Accessed 28 May 2024.
LET US DREAM
The path to a better future
POPE FRANCIS, WITH AUSTEN IVEREIGH
160pp. Simon and Schuster.
10.99 [pounds sterling].
When, on March 27, 2020, a familiar white-clad figure stood on the steps of St Peter's Basilica and addressed an invisible global audience well beyond the deserted, rain-soaked piazza, it was clear that Jorge Mario Bergoglio was having a good pandemic. In that first wave of the novel coronavirus the world found itself united by a shared fear, shared limitations and a new shared vocabulary. With unerring accuracy, Covid-19 exposed every political weakness, uncomfortable truth and socioeconomic vulnerability. People in every time zone looked to the pope and saw him standing with them. As the northern hemisphere's second wave has given way to a third, the Pope's vision for a post-Covid world has been made available in an accessible short text.
It is no surprise that Pope Francis is of the "build back better" school of thought, that he emphasizes respect for our planet as the foundation for that rebuilding, and that he draws on traditional Catholic social teaching to urge avoidance of both individualism and nationalism in favour of common endeavours. Citing the record of coronavirus containment in states with female heads of government, he also argues that a female perspective is essential in post-pandemic rebuilding (one recalls, reading this, how recently any women were appointed to senior positions in the Vatican). He looks beyond existing power structures, taking inspiration from an array of popular social movements, in the hope of giving strength to the vulnerable and bringing the marginalized to the centre. In terms of practical lessons for the politicians who must put vision into action, he offers his experience of ecclesiastical synods, and specifically of those held during his pontificate, which originated in appeals for ideas from the grassroots and sought to find common ground between "contrapositions". The parallel with citizens' assemblies could not be clearer.
The papal brain is clearly fizzing with ideas, but is not well served by either the Vatican's formulaic communications or the oversimplifications of secular media. In the wake of the Urbi et Orbi address in March 2020, the British Catholic commentator Austen Ivereigh offered the pontiff an alternative medium and they passed lockdown in extended conversations. The result could have been messy and inconsistent, meshing autobiographical reflections with comments on current affairs, but Ivereigh has worked the material here into something polished and genuinely useful.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 NI Syndication Limited
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/
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Fletcher, Stella. "POST-COVID." TLS. Times Literary Supplement, no. 6153, 5 Mar. 2021, p. 28. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A654778359/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=610dfe61. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis LET US DREAM Simon & Schuster (NonFiction None) $26.00 12, 1 ISBN: 978-1-982171-86-5
Papal reflections on the global pandemic and other pressing matters.
In his latest book, Pope Francis provides a brief, earnest discussion regarding the Covid-19 virus’ effects on the world and how humanity—and people of faith especially—can respond. One cannot approach this work, which was written in conjunction with the pope’s biographer, Ivereigh, without being reminded of John Paul II’s groundbreaking Crossing the Threshold of Hope (1994), which was also co-authored by a journalist. The book is divided into three parts (plus an epilogue), calling on readers to observe the problem, discern the way forward, and then take action. “The see-judge-act method has been used often by the Latin American Church to respond to change,” writes Ivereigh in the postscript. “Francis had reformulated it in different terms (‘contemplate-discern-propose’) but it was essentially the same approach.” Francis sees in the Covid-19 crisis a danger of narcissism for those who refuse to see it as a global catastrophe or who put self above neighbor in their actions and priorities regarding the pandemic. Somewhat awkwardly, he also explains the thoughtful blessings that such a societal “stoppage” can provide for people, and he hearkens back to the stories of Paul and David, and even his own life, for inspiration. In the section on discernment, the author calls upon Christians to identify and choose the voice of God during these uncertain times: “When we find where God’s mercy is waiting to overflow, we can open the gates, and work with all people of goodwill to bring about the necessary changes.” Regarding action, Francis emphasizes the importance of community and restoring the dignity of “the people.” We must actively seek out healing. “This is the time,” he asserts, “to restore an ethics of fraternity and solidarity, regenerating the bonds of trust and belonging. Only the face of another is capable of awakening the best of ourselves. In serving the people, we save ourselves.”
Forward-looking, heartfelt spiritual guidance.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pope Francis: LET US DREAM." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A643410852/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=74bb664c. Accessed 28 May 2024.
GO FORTH
By Pope Francis and William P. Gregory (Orbis, 2019)
"I would like a more missionary church," said Pope Francis in his 2013 address to seminarians and novices. Drawing on Francis' encyclicals, homilies, addresses, and other writing, a new book, Go Forth, draws the contours of Francis' vision for a "church in a missionary key."
William Gregory's commentary, particularly in the introduction, argues convincingly that "almost everything [Francis] has said and done since his election as pope has had missionary renewal as its ultimate objective." He presents Francis' understanding of mission as twofold: "First, to pass on the faith to others, and second, to transform the world for the better." Francis' insistence on the integration of these goals means his vision transcends divides in our polarized church. Mission is the work of all the baptized, not only of clerics or vowed religious.
The book's 11 chapters are organized thematically. The chapter on humility recognizes the church's sinfulness and offers Francis' challenges for "the church to come out of herself." Such reflections are timely and poignant as the church continues to reckon with scandal and cover-up. The chapter on solidarity is particularly compelling, with many powerful statements that challenge Christians to resist individualism, hedonism, and consumerism for the sake of mission.
This book offers rich, challenging spiritual reading--I found it thought-provoking as I prepare for profession of vows in an apostolic community of women religious. It would also serve as a useful reference for adult faith formation, as the content is deep but not abstract or excessively academic.
Go Forth provides an important resource for interpreting the core messages of Francis' papacy and for articulating Francis' understanding of our missionary calling.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Claretian Publications
http://uscatholic.claretians.org
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Miska, Sister Rhonda. "GO FORTH." U.S. Catholic, vol. 84, no. 8, Aug. 2019, p. 41. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A594925393/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=73a24c38. Accessed 28 May 2024.
A FUTURE OF FAITH By Pope Francis and Dominique Wolton (St. Martin's Essentials, 2018)
One of the emerging genres of papal writing over the last 30 years has been the book-length interview with a prominent journalist. Pope John Paul II published Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Knopf) in 1995, which began as answers to questions posed by Italian journalist Vittorio Messori. Pope Benedict published a number of books with German journalist Peter Seewald, and Pope Francis' first foray into this genre was The Name of God Is Mercy (Random House) with Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli.
While not "official" church teaching, the freewheeling style can reveal more about a pope's priorities than the more opaque language of encyclicals and apostolic exhortations. This is true of A Future of Faith, a collection of interviews between Pope Francis and French journalist and sociologist Dominique Wolton.
The conversation ranges widely across theology, culture, politics, and economics. No single concept unifies the work, but one theme that Francis returns to again and again is the need for dialogue in the face of religious, cultural, and political pluralism of the modern world. Francis contrasts two visions of globalization. One respects this pluralism and seeks unity in diversity, while the other seeks a uniform system of economics, culture, and politics that serves the interests of the powerful.
Francis' skepticism about totalizing ideologies extends to the church itself. As a bishop from the global South, he understands the dangers of confusing the gospel with European culture. He speaks warmly of Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Roberto de Nobili, who sought to adapt the gospel message to the unique cultures of China and India. Francis believes the church needs to recover this kind of inclusive missionary spirit.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Claretian Publications
http://uscatholic.claretians.org
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Nixon, J. Peter. "A FUTURE OF FAITH." U.S. Catholic, vol. 84, no. 1, Jan. 2019, p. 41. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A567633748/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a6d31f95. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis A FUTURE OF FAITH St. Martin's (Adult Nonfiction) $29.99 8, 7 ISBN: 978-1-250-20056-3
In dialogue with a French sociologist and writer, Pope Francis (Happiness in This Life, 2017, etc.) reveals some of his recent episcopal and ecumenical concerns.
Four and a half years into his seat at the Holy See, Francis has revealed a number of concerns that have caused some division among the ranks of the Catholic faithful. He is a critic of rampant capitalism, for example; as he tells interlocutor Wolton, "the liberal market economy is madness." Francis is strongly critical of inequality on the one hand and the soul-wearying quest for money on the other. Though he is far from writing off the West, too, Francis sees the future of the church in developing countries and particularly in Africa, from which he has been filling the higher ranks of the organization in Rome. Still, as these conversations reveal, Francis is essentially conservative within the larger confines of doctrine. He finds roles for women in the church but isn't quite ready for the idea of women in the priesthood, and though he believes that a good-hearted atheist is better than a bad-hearted Christian, he draws plenty of lines ("tolerance is an outmoded word"). Wolton's questions are usually very much longer than Francis' replies (Q: "The Catholic Church has a considerable historical and philosophical legacy on the question of relations with the other, with coexistence, with dialogue....You should open up more. Without necessarily engaging in evangelization!" A: "Yes, we can do that"), and the pontiff is frequently gnomic ("tradition, when it becomes an ideology, is no longer tradition"). The mixed-in homilies and addresses to churchly audiences do not always seem to fit in, logically speaking, with the surrounding proceedings. However, the book is a good state-of-the-moment snapshot of some of the things occupying Francis' mind, many of which are likely to play out in various ways in the larger Catholic community.
Catholic readers will find Francis' words to be of great interest--and, for the pre-Vatican II crowd, perhaps controversial.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Pope Francis: A FUTURE OF FAITH." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A546323331/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3b3e9f80. Accessed 28 May 2024.
God Is Young: A Conversation with Thomas Leoncini
Pope Francis, with Thomas Leoncini, trans, from the Italian by Anne Milano Appel.
Random House, $26 (128p) ISBN 978-1-984801-40-1
Pope Francis speaks frankly about problems facing the young and the elderly, Carholic and non-Catholic, throughout the world in this brief treatise. Francis begins by insisting that God is young because he dreams and makes things new again. During his conversation with Leoncini (Born Liquid), he discusses the problems (mostly moral and economic) that ordinary people face. He indicts a global culture that fails to put people first, and condemns treating both youths and the aged as "disposable." He blames problems within those demographics, such as high youth unemployment, squarely on a world "too powerfully and compellingly dominated by an economic crisis" that primarily concerns itself with loss of "bank shares" before loss of human lives. Interwoven with his analysis is discussion about his own youth, and the hope that Christianity can provide a "revolution of tenderness." Francis states his truths plainly and unequivocally--"nuclear weapons should be destroyed immediately"--and repeatedly asserts the need for a compassionate, harmonious social order. While not sugarcoating problems, Francis's simple, humane voice emerges clearly in this beautiful book of hope and inspiration. (Oct.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
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"God Is Young: A Conversation with Thomas Leoncini." Publishers Weekly, vol. 265, no. 35, 27 Aug. 2018, p. 112. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A553116342/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=226e490f. Accessed 28 May 2024.
God Is Young.
By Pope Francis.
Oct. 2018.128p. Random, $26 (9781984801401). 211.
"God is young," Pope Francis tells Italian journalist Thomas Leoncini, who has conducted this book-length interview. "He is always new." The sentiment comes at a salutary time, for this is the Roman Catholic Church's Year of Youth, during which the pope will focus particular attention on young people, as he does in this enlightening book. "To talk about young people," the pope says, "is to talk about promise and to talk about joy." Later, he amplifies this by stating that the attributes a young person should never lack are passion, joy, and a sense of humor, which "is essential in order to breathe." In the context of youth, he often invokes the word tenderness, but not everything is positive in the popes disquisition. He regards youth, in our "throwaway society," as a discarded, uprooted, and even exploited generation in concert, interestingly, with the elderly. He feels a dialogue between the two generations is essential to challenge an uprooted society. "One must never underestimate the power of words," he adds. Speaking of words, the interview is extremely wide-ranging. The answers contemplate not only philosophy but such quotidian things as plastic surgery, pets, cell phones, consumerism, and more. The pope's answers are generous in their length, some being even mini homilies. But all are thoughtful and thought-provoking, of interest and benefit to readers of all ages.--Michael Cart
YA: No matter their religion, young people will respond to the pope's thoughts and call for dialogue. MC.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Cart, Michael. "God Is Young." Booklist, vol. 115, no. 2, 15 Sept. 2018, pp. 4+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A556571543/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=799e6d75. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFE Random House (Adult Nonfiction) $27.00 12, 5 ISBN: 978-0-525-51097-0
Homilies and other short inspirational writings by the leader of the Catholic Church.
Inner freedom, writes Pope Francis (Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters from Children from Around the World, 2016, etc.), "means, in a certain way, freeing yourself from your culture and its mindset." The sentiment could have come straight out of the 1960s, and it's one of several surprises to be found in this slender collection. Most popes over the course of history have been concerned not so much with this life as the next one, and this one doesn't let that emphasis slide, either. If "the secret to a good life is to love and to surrender to love," it is also to surrender to the Holy Trinity, Mary, and other celestials. Indeed, the organizing principle of the good life, by the author's reckoning, is the Beatitudes, those blessings on the downtrodden and unfortunate from the Sermon on the Mount: "Read them every day, try not to forget them. They are the Law that Jesus gives us!" If there are moments reminiscent of the gentle encouragement of the Dalai Lama--"Don't stifle your dreams," for instance, and "Let's talk about the Lord with joy"--there is also plenty of Jesuitical rigor, especially when the pope turns to more controversial matters: it seems clear, for example, that although Francis allows that women have a role to play in the church, that role will not include priestly professions anytime soon. Family-centered and practical--especially on difficult matters of familial contention--these homilies are, on the whole, gentle encouragements to do the right thing, at least as the pontiff interprets right and wrong.
The author's 2015 encyclical Laudato si' makes for more inspired reading, perhaps, but this sometimes-stern but often friendly collection offers clear insight into the pope's doctrinal concerns.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pope Francis: HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A514267842/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9c0479eb. Accessed 28 May 2024.
The Name of God Is Mercy
By Pope Francis
Random House, 176 pp., $26.00
Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters from Children Around the World
By Pope Francis
Loyola Press, 76 pp., $18.95
As an auxiliary bishop in Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio learned from an abuela that "if the Lord did not forgive everything, our world would not exist." From the celebration of his first mass after his selection as pope in March 2013 to the April 2015 papal bull Misericordiae Vultus which announced a jubilee year of mercy, Francis has framed his papacy by a theology and practice of mercy.
Mercy, he says, is "the name of God" and "God's identity card." Francis frequently draws on embodied and experiential metaphors to elaborate mercy as grounded in God's creative and redemptive attributes. Quoting Pope John XXIII's opening of Vatican II, he writes that God applies the "medicine of mercy" as a healing balm for the seemingly irreparably shattered heart and incurable wounds of sin--whether original, personal, social, or structural. The divine caress of forgiveness acts as a salvific and sanctifying embrace for which contemporary society fails to recognize its need. "The fragility of our era is this too: we don't believe that there is a chance for redemption; for a hand to raise you up; for an embrace to save you, forgive you, pick you up, flood you with infinite, patient, indulgent love; to put you back on your feet. We need mercy." Both divine and human desire initiate and cooperate in this embrace.
The Name of God Is Mercy, rooted in Francis's lifework as a priest and a confessor, cites and interprets New Testament stories to illustrate divine mercy. The woman caught in adultery (John 8) and Peter's forgiveness (John 21) teach us to reform past ways and begin a new life. Other examples include Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, and the good thief. The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) exemplifies the profligate grace of God's love and mercy rather than human standards of fairness. Surprisingly, in good feminist fashion, Francis resists Luke's androcentrism (which subordinates and silences women leaders in the early Jesus movement) and instead highlights the example of contemporary mothers and wives who bring food to imprisoned relatives. Like the so-called missing mother of the parable, they bring the nurturing embrace of family and food in acts of mercy.
Francis also uses biblical images of a wayward Jerusalem portrayed as an ashamed and repentant wife (e.g., Ezek. 16), stressing God's fidelity even to the point of forgiving apparently unforgivable sins. He construes these and other stories, such as the legendary calling of the former tax collector Matthew as an apostle, via his Jesuit vocation: "I can read my life in light of chapter 16 of the book of the prophet Ezekiel. I read those pages and I say: everything here seems written just for me. The prophet speaks of shame, and shame is a grace.... Shame is one of the graces that St. Ignatius asks for during his confession of his sins before Christ crucified."
If one reads Francis's theology and practice of mercy alongside prior papal statements, particularly from Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI, a new ecclesiology emerges. "The Church's very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love." Resisting clericalist and legalistic models, Francis proposes that the church best shows the mercy of divine creative and redemptive love when it acts as a "field hospital" treating the wounded in triage style. He recounts models of merciful priests "who knew how to be close to people and treat their wounds." To embody mercy rather than judgment, the church must practice "the apostolate of the ear" through listening, patience, tenderness, and being "involved and wounded by pain, by illness, by poverty." In so doing, the church simultaneously shows its maternal face and acts in persona Christi. This is a "church that goes forth," with members that "go out from the church and the parishes, go outside and look for people where they live, where they suffer, and where they hope." Here an extroverted ecclesiology and a realized eschatology merge to form a merciful church, conveyed in both corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Aside from the church, Francis affirms that the family is "the first school of mercy" and "the unwavering reference point for the young." After global Jesuit institutions and volunteers collected more than 250 letters to Francis from children in over 25 countries, Antonio Spadaro, SJ, compiled 30 of those letters and transcribed the pope's responses to them in Dear Pope Francis. In his responses to these children's tough questions, Francis touches on theological topics ranging from God, sin and evil, miracles, angels and saints, the Eucharist, and prayer to creation, anthropology, Christology, ecclesiology, salvation, and eschatology--a veritable systematic theology for children. Francis's replies to children's questions about the injustices of poverty, slavery, refugee crises, and war demonstrate that resistance to global suffering combines mercy (imitating God's inclusive love) with advocacy (living hope through practices such as distributive justice).
Far from privatized to personal relationships, Francis's theology of mercy carries political implications. In The Name of God Is Mercy he advocates recognizing the religious lives of LGBTQ people, even though his post-synod apostolic exhortation Amoris laetetia rejected same-sex unions and parenting as opposed to God's heteronormative plan. He argues for the abolition of the death penalty, the social reintegration of former prisoners, and solidarity with marginalized peoples that flows from the compassion "to suffer with, to suffer together, to not remain indifferent to the pain and the suffering of others." Such compassion involves being moved by visceral love to action and advocacy that addresses poverty, homelessness, and anti-immigration attitudes and policies, and in many other ways counteracts "the globalization of indifference."
Francis's papacy during the first half of this jubilee year of mercy (which began in early December 2015) has been marked by some steps toward such action and advocacy: recognition of the Armenian genocide as an important part of peace and solidarity; condemnation of global IS attacks as offenses against God and humanity; caution against politically divisive walls of fear and hatred that fueled and accompanied the Brexit vote; memorialization of the migrant dead from Central America at a border mass in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city also structured by multiple intersecting oppressions that lead to femicide; denunciation of Donald Trump's proposed immigration policies as unchristian; and provision of hospitality at the Vatican to three Syrian refugee families. After the nightclub shooting in Orlando, Francis urged the church to apologize for discrimination against LGBTQ people (as well as all marginalized people, including the poor, women, and child laborers). However, he did not go far enough to mandate reform of either the increasingly commonplace Catholic practice of firing LGBTQ employees after their civil unions or the Catholic teachings that refer to LGBTQ people as objectively disordered. With respect to women, Francis has allowed the use of contraception in Latin American countries affected by the Zika virus (for the protection of children, not as an affirmation of women's sexual agency), endorsed the long-standing church practice of including women in the Holy Thursday foot washing ritual, and formed a commission to study the ordination of women to the diaconate. The commission could legitimize a path for women to sacramental ministry but not to the priesthood and thus not to decision-making power and authority in the church.
Francis's writings on mercy stress a sacramental quality bent on building and deepening human-divine love relationships. On my reading, feminist biblical, New Testament, and theological studies raise important questions and issues about the biblical and Gospel stories that Francis chooses to highlight divine mercy. Francis and his papal predecessors frequently invoke marital metaphors to understand divine-human relations, which map the theological landscape for complementary (read unequal) gender relations in the church, family, and society. Ezekiel 16 problematically posits a marital metaphor between God and Jerusalem to justify the husband's/God's violent retaliatory acts against an adulterous wife/Jerusalem for betraying and abandoning the covenant. God's physically violent acts of judgment are intended to fill Jerusalem with shame for its sinfulness and thus heal the broken relationship. From the perspective of domestic violence, this metaphor describes and prescribes dangerous xenophobic norms about hostility to outsiders which are rooted in the patriarchal control, othering, and abuse (and in this case the graphic injury and murder) of women, particularly strange or foreign women. Francis's grappling with sin, shame, and repentance through Ezekiel 16 does not cohere well with a theology of mercy characterized by tenderness, caress, and healing balm for sin's wounds and expressed in the visceral, womblike character of God's love.
By contrast, the pope's use of the story of the Samaritan woman (John 4) aligns well with his model of a church that goes forth, and together they support his theology of mercy from a feminist theological perspective. When combined with the stories of the Syrophoenician and Canaanite women (Mark 7:24-30; Matt. 15:21-28), Jesus' public conversation with unnamed foreign women counters conventional religious, gender, and sexual norms. After challenging Jesus to expand his ministry beyond the Jewish community, the Samaritan woman shows her understanding of his identity through personal experience and testimony (much like Mary Magdalene's first witness to the resurrection in John 20:1-18, which Francis recently elevated to a feast day on the liturgical calendar). Resembling the church that goes forth, Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is personified as a woman who speaks in public at the city's crossroads with divine authority, issuing an inclusive invitation to her life-giving table (Prov. 1, 8-9). While this portrait of Wisdom perpetuates the good woman/bad woman dualism, it also provides rich resources for a feminist logos Christology in which Jesus' life and ministry are considered a prophetic incarnation of Wisdom. These stories, alongside Francis's ecclesiology, afford both women and men a rich performative, rather than limiting biophysical, way of imitating Jesus, of being the public church.
However, Francis's ecclesiology has also run into some critical and creative tension with feminist theology, which he recently called a "trap." For example, the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life have invited 15 U.S. orders of women religious, including the Sisters of Mercy and Loretto, for further conversation and clarification in the wake of the six-year inquiry and investigation into the mission, life, and adherence to church teaching of U.S. women religious.
Given that the U.S. presidential election is occurring during the second half of this jubilee year of mercy (celebrated until late November), and given that the Nuns on the Bus group recently held its fifth annual bus tour across the United States, Catholics in this country wait with mixed expectations about what Pope Francis will do. The gates of justice (which the chant at the start of the jubilee year uses to refer to the holy door in the Vatican) are open. But they could be opened wider.
Reviewed by Rosemary P. Carbine, who teaches religious studies at Whittier College in Whittier, California.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 The Christian Century Foundation
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Carbine, Rosemary P. "The Name of God Is Mercy." The Christian Century, vol. 133, no. 23, 9 Nov. 2016, pp. 37+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A471474497/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f0996e2a. Accessed 28 May 2024.
The Name of God is Mercy A Conversation with Andrea Tornielli
Pope Francis Random House, S26,176 pp.
On April 11, 2015, Pope Francis issued Misericordiae vultus, the formal "bull" instituting the current Year of Mercy. Misericordiae vultus, reproduced as an appendix, makes up the final third of this slim book. The rest is an extended interview with the Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli. As Tornielli says in a preface, the interview was his idea--he hoped to get a personal angle on the theme of mercy for Francis, "to analyze what those words mean to him, as a man and a priest, away from the tensions of church debates, to "reveal the heart of Francis and his vision."
As a result of the interview format, what is to be found here is not as balanced or multidimensional as most of what has emerged in Francis's name. Nevertheless, there is a good deal that is familiar. The Francis recorded here has the fresh, direct, and immediate quality we meet elsewhere. He has some of the same verbal ticks ("God never tires of...let us never tire..."), and a proclivity for a language that is earthy, bodily, tactile: if we prefer to remain locked up in our own sin rather than to seek God's mercy, we "behave like a dog... licking our wounds, and they stay open and never heal," while Jesus, by contrast, "forgives by caressing the wounds of our sin"; the corrupt person may not realize the state he is in, "much as the person with bad breath does not know they have it." There is an emphasis on tenderness; a focus on the outcast and marginalized; a revisiting of his favored image of the church as field hospital. If one were in any doubt about who actually did most of the drafting of Pope Francis's other documents, this volume would put that doubt to rest. It contains, too, a touch of the same asperity we meet elsewhere: Francis is full of sympathy for the sinner, who falls again and again and can turn again and again to God's mercy, but not so much for the one who is "corrupt," who elevates sin into a system, ceases to understand it as sin, sees no need to seek mercy, and is "closed off and contented in the complacency of his self-sufficiency."
There is quite a lot that touches on confession in particular. We learn of Pope Francis's own early experience as a penitent, of confessors he has known who have been particularly important to him, of the significance for his priestly life of hearing confessions. We are given a general account of the importance of going to confession, of why it is necessary: true, "I can talk to the Lord and ask him for forgiveness, implore him. And the Lord will forgive me immediately" but confession to a priest is "a way to be real and authentic: we face the facts by looking at another person and not in the mirror." There are instructions about how a priest should dispose himself in the confessional: he "needs to think of his own sins, to listen with tenderness, to pray to the Lord for a heart as merciful as his.... He needs to try to resemble God in all his mercy." One might quibble that this set of instructions seems contradictory --to be thinking about one's own sins seems to point in one direction, and to be trying to resemble God in quite a different one--but no doubt the best confessors are indeed the ones who can do both these things at once. All in all, the portrait Francis paints of the confessional is a moving one: a humble priest, listening intently and tenderly, offering advice "delicately" and finding a way to communicate to the penitent the loving, merciful embrace of God. How often the experience of the confessional lives up to this portrait is, of course, another question.
The confession-centered quality of the book--by my count ten out of eleven chapters touch in some way on the confessional--may be something of an accident, the product of the questions Tornielli asked and the particular angle on the topic of mercy he chose. In the more balanced Misericordiae vultus only two out of the twenty-five paragraphs concern the sacrament. This is fortunate, I think. If the Year of Mercy turned out to be nothing but a call for a return to the practice of confession--as an incautious reader of this book could easily suppose--it might seem a touch unpleasant: a triumphalist church, convinced it has all the answers, calling her "children" to return to her as penitents.
Is there in any case--even if it is not all about calling us back to confession --something unsettling in the current emphasis on mercy? Francis quotes John Paul II's comment that "The word and the concept of 'mercy' seem to cause uneasiness in man." Is he right? Cardinal Walter Kasper, in a 2013 book on mercy that influenced Francis, similarly suggests that "words like 'mercy' and 'pity' have largely gone out of fashion"; they seem "sentimental"; they "have been used up and appear old and dusty." In the passage from John Paul II quoted in Francis's bull, a diagnosis is in fact offered of our unease with mercy: there is a sort of Promethean quality to modern humanity--scientific and technological progress mean we are used to control, to dominion over nature, and don't want to acknowledge dependence on God's mercy.
I think the popes are right that we are uncomfortable with too much emphasis on mercy, but not quite right in their identification of the source of discomfort. We pray at every Mass "Lord have mercy," and I've yet to meet a Catholic who objects to doing so. It is not God's mercy that causes disquiet, in my view, but the proposal that mercy become the fundamental pattern for how we relate to other people: mercy at the center of the divine-human relationship we are at ease with; mercy as the core of human-human relationships not so much so.
Part of the problem is that we can associate mercy with and imbalance of power--it's a word that can call to mind images of a king graciously deciding not to chop off the head of his prisoner. Perhaps this is just the "dustiness," the dated feel of the word--"compassion," after all, doesn't tend to put us off in quite the same way. (Peter Steinfels made a similar point in his contribution to the Commonweal symposium on Amoris laetitia, "Balancing Act," May 20.) Perhaps we could learn to use "mercy" differently--to think of what merciful colleagues, or a merciful bureaucracy, or a merciful attitude on the part of young adults toward their parents might look like. We might think of mercy not as an act of condescension, but as treating others, in their moments of weakness or fault or vulnerability, as we ourselves would like to be treated.
There is also the worry that a focus on mercy might imply a failure to think about justice. Does the "Year of Mercy" encourage us to respond to the needs of others in a way that ultimately leaves them where they are, without addressing structural problems that brought about their distress? It's one of the shortcomings of The Name of God is Mercy that, read on its own, it might lead one to this view, though a wider look at Pope Francis's writings quickly dispels this impression: in Evangelii gaudium, for instance, Francis speaks about things such as the danger of unfettered markets and the structural causes of inequality, and in fact goes out of his way to reject the possibility that "our response to God be seen simply as an accumulation of small personal gestures to individuals in need."
That the emphasis on mercy cannot mean the abandonment of the search for justice is something on which Kasper, too, insists: "Mercy," he writes, "becomes pseudomercy...when it does not exceed, but rather undercuts the demand for justice." Perhaps the most persuasive voice suggesting that a pursuit of justice can take place within, and not in opposition to, a commitment to mercy, is that of the liberation theologian Jon Sobrino. More than twenty years ago he wrote powerfully of the "principal of mercy" as that which lay at the heart of the life of Jesus and which lies, or ought to lie, at the center of the church's identity. When the church truly lives by the principle of mercy, and does not espouse mercy as mere sentiment--when reacting to eradicate the suffering of others is at the very core of its identity, and is lived out fully--then the church will be led not only to tend the wounds of victims, but to "denounce robbers who victimize, to lay bare the lie that conceals oppression, and to encourage victims to win their freedom from culprits." Then the church, Sobrino writes, will be "decentered" by mercy, its focus shifted away from itself, and then indeed it will find itself "threatened, assaulted, and persecuted" by the forces of "anti-mercy."
So mercy can be a richer and more challenging concept than we tend to suppose. But even so, there are limits to the usefulness of its invocation. If I come across someone who is harmed, someone who has tripped and fallen and gashed her head, let's say, I can respond with mercy--I can help her get up, speak to them kindly, and tend the wound. But if I have caused the harm--I was the one who left the oil on the sidewalk that brought about the fall--while I may still need to help her get up and tend the wound, mercy is not quite the category for thinking about my obligations. Invoking mercy in this context would be an evasion of responsibility. Similarly, if something in church teaching is out of whack, if there is something that is not quite right, then a call to be merciful in its application strikes a false note. Suppose as a matter of fact, for example, it is not true that homosexual unions are (in the language of the synod of bishops, recently quoted by Francis) "not even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family"; in this case no redoubling of a merciful pastoral style toward gay people will undo the injustice the church does to them.
Karen Kilby is the Bede Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University and the author of Balthasar: A (Very) Critical Introduction (Eerdmans) and A Brief Introduction to Karl Rahner (Continuum).
Caption: A priest hears the confession of Pope Francis during a penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Commonweal Foundation
http://www.cweal.org/
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Kilby, Karen. "But What about Justice?" Commonweal, vol. 143, no. 10, 3 June 2016, pp. 29+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A454786503/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8e0ef46a. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis DEAR POPE FRANCIS Loyola Press (Children's Picture Books) $18.95 3, 1 ISBN: 978-0-8294-4433-9
The People's Pope shows that he is a down-to-earth man who understands both religion and children. Left-hand pages show 30 actual letters and hand-drawn pictures from children around the world, culled from 259 submitted, along with snapshots of the children, their names, ages, and countries, and the typed English texts of their letters. Right-hand pages, on paper meant to look like Vatican stationery, bear the pope's answers, given in an interview with editor Father Antonio Spadaro, many talking about the pictures the children have drawn. The questions ("these are tough...!") are all over the map in terms of both theology and intimacy. An 8-year-old girl from Kenya wants to know how Jesus walked on water, a 10-year-old girl from the Philippines wants to know why parents argue, and Prajla, 6, from Albania wants to know if Francis enjoyed dancing in his youth. Answering in terms children can understand, Pope Francis addresses both their questions and the fears and hopes that lie beneath them. While these questions were likely chosen to present the pope's vision and stances on many matters of Roman Catholic faith--dealing with the poor, the afterlife, prayer, evangelization, mercy (oddly, none address the environment)-- that doesn't mean that his answers to these youngest of his flock are anything other than important or relevant. As Spadaro writes, Pope Francis understands that "One must not complicate God, especially if this complication distances God from the people." People's Pope indeed. (Religion. 4-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Pope Francis: DEAR POPE FRANCIS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A441735135/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=40ec551f. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Pope Francis’s latest book: reflections on history and moments of clarity
Serenhedd James
May 25, 2024 at 1:00 pm
Just over three years ago I wrote a piece for the Herald called “The Battle of the Papal Biographers” (March 2021). In it I noted that since 2013 there had been at least eight books written about Pope Francis in English, with others on the way. About one a year seems a pretty impressive run rate. Many authors have been complimentary about Pope Francis and his priorities; Christopher Lamb, Austen Ivereigh, Paul Vallely, Jimmy Burns and John Cornwell among them. Others have taken a more critical view; Henry Sire’s The Dictator Pope of 2017 is a significant outlier which, although anomalous, deserves to be reckoned with alongside the rest.
The cogs of the book-machine have continued to turn; in 2024 the latest offering is by the Pope himself, in collaboration with the Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, a Vaticanista who has clearly been given considerable access to Pope Francis’s thoughts. Ragona explains that Life: My Story Through History, is “born with the aim of narrating history through one person’s story: the most significant events of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st in the voice of a special witness, Pope Francis, who has very willingly agreed to look back on his own life through the events that have left a mark on all humanity”. It is an ambitious and no doubt daunting exercise.
People have always wanted to know about the lives of the popes, from the early Liber Pontificalis (which was held to contain the biographies of St Peter and his successors up to the 15th century), to doorstopper works like Giacomo Martina SJ’s Pius IX or St John XXIII’s Journal of a Soul. There are sundry books by George Weigel and others on St John Paul II; Peter Seewald leads the field on Benedict XVI with his magisterial double-volume biography and more besides. Pius XII seems still to be stuck in a game of literary tennis between his detractors and supporters over his actions (or lack of them, depending on who stands where) in the Second World War.
The list goes on, but Ragona’s contribution is markedly different from anything that has gone before. He pinpoints significant moments in history and invites Pope Francis to reflect on them, which gives readers a powerful sense of entry into his interior thoughts down the decades. That said, as he explains: “The pontiff’s own voice, in his memories, alternates in each chapter with that of a narrator, who reconstructs selected moments in the everyday life of the future Pope Francis, adding a few details suggestive of the period to set the historical scene and put the latter’s words into context.” This eclectic approach, while dramatic, introduces a hint of romance that readers may need to navigate carefully.
It doesn’t scupper the book’s impact, but it does take some getting used to. It is very good to learn more about Pope Francis’s childhood, because as with any subject of a biography it is particularly illuminating. We learn his parents’ names – Mario and Regina – which immediately bring him humanly closer to the readers. In one vignette, which may or may not be based in absolute reality, for it is provided by the narrator mentioned above, Mama Bergoglio flies into a rage about the wickedness of Adolf Hitler. It sets the scene for the Pope to reflect, 80 years later, that he has “never come to terms” with the Nazi agenda, which “has always caused me pain inside”.
This does not come as a surprise; it would certainly have been a startling scoop if Pope Francis had said anything different. And so it goes on, in similar style: narration and reflection, from the Second World War and the Holocaust to Hiroshima and the Cold War; through the moon landings, Argentinian political history, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the coming into being of the European Union. A chapter called “The Hand of God” is absolutely about Diego Maradona’s controversial goal against England in 1986. Years later, when Maradona visited the Vatican, the football-fan pontiff recalls that he couldn’t resist a bit of mischief: “I asked him, jokingly, ‘So, which is the guilty hand?’”
This is one of many endearing mises en scène; but Pope Francis doesn’t waste an opportunity to end on a serious note: “Sports can give young people in difficult circumstances a safety valve that helps them overcome tension by sending them outside for a good kickabout.” The Maradona story quickly develops into an exposition on the challenges facing sport in the present day: “It is true that nowadays there are more commercial aspects to competitive and professional sports, such as sponsors, but this is not a bad thing if done in moderation and ethically. What is important is that the perverse logic of money, which has nothing to do with the spirit of sports, should not take precedence.”
Pope Francis moves on to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – surely that generation’s Kennedy moment – before talking about the financial crisis that followed. Next comes the resignation of Benedict XVI and his own election to the See of Peter. Thereafter a slight change of tack emerges, and the closing chapters are perhaps the most interesting of all. “Pope Benedict took the opportunity to affirm his promise of unconditional reverence for and obedience to the new pope … his position as pope emeritus has been exploited for ideological and political ends by unscrupulous people … who may have prioritised their own interests and guarded their turf while underestimating the risk of a dramatic split within the Church.”
Later, Pope Francis criticises those who “create bad feeling within the Church and disorientation among the faithful”, and turns to his regular bête noire of “clericalism”, which he believes creates distance between priests and people. “These attitudes have driven the faithful away. It is therefore important to preserve and promote the faith by placing ourselves close to the people, leaving our embroidery, frills and lace cuffs in the closet and concentrating instead on the Christian message of compassion and closeness.” I’ve never quite understood how closeness to the people and dignified liturgical vesture are mutually exclusive, but then only one of us is God’s vicegerent on earth, and it certainly isn’t me.
Alongside this, however, sit a number of important clarifications. The idea that nuns and other laypeople might have a vote in the next conclave is “fantasy”. On the question of same-sex marriage: “We do not have the power to change the sacraments created by the Lord. Marriage is one of the seven sacraments and provides only for the union of a man and a woman. Leave well alone.” Pope Francis also cites his own Amoris Laetitia: “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.” He believes that “the pope’s ministry is ad vitam, for life, and I therefore see no justification for giving it up”.
This is a book that will delight many and annoy others. Some of its corners are really very beautiful indeed, and others are importantly candid – particularly a renewed apology to victims of clerical abuse. At the same time, anyone seeking clear answers about the “new Magisterium”, or the reopening of the liturgy wars, will be disappointed. Meanwhile, only someone who had spent the last few years living under a rock could possibly swallow Pope Francis’s insistence that “thanks be to God, I enjoy good health”. His last line speaks volumes: “I ask this of you: please don’t forget to pray for me! For, not against!” It is a totally lucid moment of self-awareness as this papacy now begins to enter its closing phase.