Pope Francis: Getting to Know You (UPDATED)

Screen shot from Vatican TV of the
Pope's first appearance.

Thanks to the modern day marvel of Twitter, I have come across some excellent posts about the former Jorge Bergolio, SJ, including his powerful, Old-Testament-prophet-style preaching. These few pages give me the impression of a man truly after God's own heart. I think we can expect this Pope of the poor to challenge us in many ways. Clearly, he already defies all the usual categories (stumping the journalists who are trying to find a box to put him in), this Pope who was so familiar with the local bus routes (he even took the shuttle bus last night with the cardinals).

As we await his own homilies, addresses and encyclicals as Pope, here is a first glimpse into the heart of Pope Francis:

From a 2005 article in the UK "Catholic Herald": Bergoglio is admired as being far from the powers of this world, indifferent to his media image, preoccupied by 

the future of society, and a man looking always for new forms of social solidarity and justice in a country where 15 per cent are unemployed and thousands rummage through the bins at night looking for something to eat.

Interview from 2012: Instead of just being a Church that welcomes and receives, we try to be a Church that comes out of itself and goes to the men and women who do not participate in parish life, do not know much about it and are indifferent towards it. We organise missions in public squares where many people usually gather: we pray, we celebrate mass, we offer baptism which we administer after a brief preparation. This is the style of the parishes and the diocese itself. Other than this, we also try to reach out to people who are far away, via digital means, the web and brief messaging.

Letter for Lent 2013: We live alongside a violence that kills, that destroys families, that enlivens wars and conflicts in so many countries of the world.  We live with envy, hatred, slander, the mundane in our heart.The suffering of the innocent and peaceable buffets us nonstop; the contempt for the rights of the most fragile of people and nations is not so distant from us; the tyrannical rule of money with its demonic effects, such as drugs, corruption, trafficking in people -- even children -- along with misery, both material and moral, are the coin of the realm [today].  The destruction of dignified work, painful emigrations and the lack of a future also join in this [tragic] symphony. Our errors and sins as Church are not beyond this analysis.


Homily in his first Mass as Pope (today): I would like that all of us, after these days of grace, might have the courage - the courage - to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Cross of the Lord: to build the Church on the Blood of the Lord, which is shed on the Cross, and to profess the one glory, Christ Crucified. In this way, the Church will go forward.
My hope for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, that the prayer of Our Lady, our Mother, might grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ Crucified. So be it.

20 "Fast Facts" about Pope Francis, courtesy of The Telegraph (UK). (Hint: tango, anyone?)

Do you read Spanish? You're in luck! You can read the Holy Father's book on your Kindle! (Me, I have to wait for the translation to come out.)


Father Robert Barron: "The most exciting day of my life... Last night, 
this place was the place to be on Planet Earth, I tell you!"

Glued to the Internet (Habemus Papam!)

The new Pope bows for a blessing from the people.

End of an Era?

Whoever the next Pope is, it is unlikely that he would have been an active participant in Vatican II, whether as a Council Father (like the young Bishop Karol Wojtyla) or as a theological consultant (like Joseph Ratzinger).

According to Andreas Widmer (a former Swiss Guard-turned-CEO who got to see Pope John Paul's papacy up close), John Paul saw his mission as continuing the implementation of Vatican II, and Benedict saw his as rounding that out and equipping the Church for the New Evangelization. From Benedict's perspective, what is needed now is not a continued implementation of Vatican II, but vigor and energy in the Petrine ministry. (One might say that this is already a hint to the next Conclave, but I don't see that in Benedict's character.) 

Widmer's take, that Benedict saw his role role as assuring the genuine implementation of Vatican II seems to be supported by his own words on Feb. 14, speaking to the clergy of Rome in a kind of farewell address. He told the back story of his own participation in the council, and then very baldly told a tale of two councils: the one he was part of ("the council of the Fathers", "the true council") and an alternate council--the "council of the media." These two councils had very different takes on such things as authority, liturgy and scripture. Pope Benedict was not afraid to say that it was the "council of the media" and not the "true council" that had the greater impact, and not for the good. But he's also not afraid to declare, as he goes off into the sunset: "This Virtual Council is breaking down, getting lost and the true Council is emerging with all its spiritual strength. And it is our task, in this Year of Faith, starting from this Year of Faith, to work so that the true Council with the power of the Holy Spirit is realized and Church is really renewed."

Who will take on that task? Cardinal Re joined the Curia in 1963, so he was around during the Council--as was Cardinal Martins, who was a professor at the Claretianum (the university of his religious order, the Claretians)--but neither appear to have had an active role in the Council. 

This could mean that 50 years after the Council, we may see our first post-conciliar Pope. 

It could be that the next Pope will be the Pope of the New Evangelization that Vatican II intended all along.