{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}} Francis (Latin: Franciscus{{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}, Spanish: Francisco{{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}, Italian: Francesco{{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}) born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;^{[lower-alpha 1]} 17 December 1936) is the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church,^[1] a position also holding the roles of Sovereign of Vatican City and the Bishop of Rome.

Born in Buenos Aires as the son of Italian parents, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician before entering seminary. He 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, on 13 March 2013 the papal conclave elected Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. ^[2]

Throughout his life, both as an individual and a religious leader, Bergoglio 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.^[3][4][5] Since his election to the papacy, he has displayed a simpler and less formal approach to the office, choosing to reside in the Vatican guesthouse rather than the papal residence.

Early life[link]

Student: Jorge Mario Bergoglio (4th from left, middle row), studied chemistry before joining the priesthood

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Flores,^[6] a barrio of Buenos Aires. He was the eldest^[7] of five children of Mario José Bergoglio, an Italian immigrant accountant^[8] born in Portacomaro (Province of Asti) in Italy's Piedmont region, and his wife Regina María Sívori,^[9] a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} Bergoglio's sister María Elena told reporters decades later that their father often said that "the advent of fascism was the reason that really pushed him to leave" Italy. She is the pope's only living sibling.^{[15][lower-alpha 2]}

Bergoglio has been a supporter of the San Lorenzo de Almagro football club since his childhood.^[17][18] Bergoglio is also a fan of the films of Tita Merello and of neorealism and of tango dancing, with an "intense fondness" for the traditional music of Argentina and Uruguay known as the milonga.^[19]

As a sixth-grade pupil, Bergoglio attended Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles, a school of the Salesians of Don Bosco, in Ramos Mejía in Greater Buenos Aires.^[20]

He attended the technical secondary school Escuela Nacional de Educación Técnica N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen^[21] and graduated with a chemical technician's diploma.^[22] He worked for a few years in that capacity in the foods section at Hickethier-Bachmann Laboratory.^[23] In the only known health crisis of his youth, at the age of 21 he suffered from life-threatening pneumonia and three cysts and had part of a lung removed shortly afterwards.^[21][24]

Pre-papal career[link]

Jesuit[link]

Bergoglio studied at the archdiocesan seminary, Inmaculada Concepción Seminary, in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires City and, after three years, entered the Society of Jesus as a novice on 11 March 1958.^[19] Bergoglio has said that as a young seminarian, he "was dazzled by a girl I met at an uncle's wedding", so much so that he "could not pray for over a week" because he could not help thinking of her, and so he "had to rethink what I was doing".^[27] As a Jesuit novice he studied humanities in Santiago, Chile.^[28] At the conclusion of his noviciate in the Society of Jesus, Bergoglio officially became a Jesuit on 12 March 1960, when he made the religious profession of the initial, temporary vows of a member of the order.^[29]

In 1960, Bergoglio obtained a licentiate in philosophy from the Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel, Buenos Aires Province; in 1964 and 1965, he taught literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada, a high school in the Province of Santa Fe, Argentina, and in 1966 he taught the same courses at the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires City.^[30]

In 1967, Bergoglio finished his theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood on 13 December 1969, by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He attended the Facultades de Filosofía y Teología de San Miguel (Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel),^[31] a seminary in San Miguel. He served as the master of novices for the province there and became a professor of theology.

Bergoglio completed his final stage of spiritual formation as a Jesuit, tertianship, at Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and took his perpetual vows in the Society of Jesus on 22 April 1973.^[32] He was named Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina on 31 July 1973 and served until 1979.^[33] After the completion of his term of office, in 1980 he was named the rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel in San Miguel,^[34] and served in that capacity until 1986. He spent several months at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany, while considering possible dissertation topics,^[35] before returning to Argentina to serve as a confessor and spiritual director to the Jesuit community in Córdoba.^[36] In Germany he saw the painting Mary Untier of Knots in Augsburg and brought a copy of the painting to Argentina where it has become an important Marian devotion.^{[37][38][lower-alpha 3]}

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 celebrate Mass with Czmil.^[41]

Bishop[link]

Bergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and was ordained on 27 June 1992 as Titular Bishop of Auca,^[42] with Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving as principal consecrator.^[25] On 3 June 1997, Bergoglio was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires with right of automatic succession.^[26] He chose as his episcopal motto Miserando atque eligendo.^[43] It is drawn from Bede's homily on Matthew 9:9–13: "because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him".^[44]

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.^[45] 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.^[46]

Early in his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio sold off the Archdiocese's shares in multiple banks and transferred its accounts to those of a normal customer in international banks.^[47]

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 rite.^[25] Archbishop Shevchuk has said that Bergoglio understands the liturgy, rites, and spirituality of his 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.^[41]

In 2000, Bergoglio was the only church official to reconcile with Jerónimo Podestá, a former bishop who had been defrocked as a priest after opposing the military dictatorship in 1972, and he defended Podestá's wife from Vatican attacks on their marriage.^[48][49][50] 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, the years known as the Dirty War.^[51]

Bergoglio made it his custom to celebrate the Holy Thursday ritual washing of feet in "a jail, a hospital, a home for the elderly or with poor people".^[52] One year he washed the feet of newborn children and pregnant women.^[53] In his first Holy Thursday as pope, Francis continued this custom, visiting a jail in Rome where he washed the feet of twelve inmates aged 14 to 21, among them two women; the first woman was a Serbian Muslim, the second was an Italian Catholic.^[54]

In 2007, just two days after Benedict XVI issued new rules for using the liturgical forms that preceded the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Bergoglio was one of the first bishops in the world to respond by instituting a Tridentine Mass in Buenos Aires.^[55][56] It was celebrated weekly.^[57]

On 8 November 2005, Bergoglio was elected president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference for a three-year term (2005–08).^[58] He was reelected to another three-year term on 11 November 2008.^[59] 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.^[25]

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.^[60]

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.^[61]

Cardinal[link]

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. When he traveled to Rome for the ceremony, he and his sister María Elena visited the village in northern Italy where their father was born.^[15]

As cardinal, Bergoglio was appointed to five administrative positions in the Roman Curia. He was 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.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in 2008

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,^[62] and, according to the Catholic Herald, created "a favourable impression as a man open to communion and dialogue".^[63][64]

Cardinal Bergoglio became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice.^[65] 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.^[66] He limited his time in Rome to "lightning visits".^[67]

On the death of Pope John Paul II, Bergoglio attended his funeral. He was considered one of the papabile cardinals.^[68] 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.^[65][69] 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.^[70][71] The claims were based on a diary purportedly belonging to an anonymous cardinal who had been present at the conclave.^[70][72] According to Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, this number of votes had no precedents for a Latin American papabile.^[72] 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.^[73] According to Tornielli, Bergoglio made this request to prevent the conclave from delaying too much in the election of a pope.^[74]

As a cardinal, Bergoglio was associated with Communion and Liberation, a Catholic evangelical lay movement of the type known as associations of the faithful.^[65][75] He has sometimes made appearances at the annual gathering known as the Rimini Meeting held during the late summer months in Italy.^[65]

In 2005, Cardinal Bergoglio authorized the request for beatification—the first step towards sainthood—for six members of the Pallottine community murdered in 1976.^[76][77] At the same time, Bergoglio ordered an investigation into the murders themselves, which had been widely blamed on the military regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.^[77]

Relations with Argentine governments[link]

Dirty War[link]

Bergoglio was the subject of allegations regarding the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests during Argentina's "Dirty War".^[78][79] Bergoglio feared for the priests' safety and had tried to change their work prior to their arrest; however, contrary to reports, he never tried to throw them out of the Jesuit order.^[80] In 2005, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Bergoglio, as superior in the Society of Jesus of Argentina, accusing him of involvement in the Navy's kidnapping of the two priests in May 1976.^[81] The lawyer's complaint did not specify the nature of Bergoglio's alleged involvement, and Bergoglio's spokesman flatly denied the allegations. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.^[78] The priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics, had been tortured,^[82] but found alive five months later, drugged and semi-naked. Yorio accused Bergoglio of effectively handing them over to the death squads by declining to tell the regime that he endorsed their work. Yorio (who died in 2000) said in a 1999 interview that he believed that Bergoglio did nothing "to free us, in fact just the opposite".^[83] Jalics initially refused to discuss the complaint after moving into seclusion in a German monastery.^[84] However, two days after the election of Pope Francis, Jalics issued a statement confirming the kidnapping and attributing the cause to a former lay colleague who became a guerrilla, was captured, and named Yorio and Jalics when interrogated.^[85] 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."^[86][87]

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.^[88] In 2010, Bergoglio told Sergio Rubin that he had often sheltered people from the dictatorship on church property, and once gave his own identity papers to a man who looked like him, so he could flee Argentina.^[82] The interview with Rubin, reflected in the biography El jesuita, is the only time Bergoglio has spoken to the press about those events.^[89] Alicia Oliveira, a former Argentine Judge, has also reported that Bergoglio helped people flee Argentina during the military regime.^[90] Since Francis became Pope, Gonzalo Mosca^[91] and José Caravias^[92] 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".^[93] 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."^[83] Artist and human rights activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, said: "Perhaps he didn't have the courage of other priests, but he never collaborated with the dictatorship ... Bergoglio was no accomplice of the dictatorship."^[94][95] Graciela Fernández Meijide, member of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, also said that there was no proof linking Bergoglio with the dictatorship. She told Clarín: "There is no information and Justice couldn't prove it. I was in the APDH during all the dictatorship years and I received hundreds of testimonies. Bergoglio was never mentioned. It was the same in the CONADEP. Nobody mentioned him as instigator or as anything."^[96] Ricardo Lorenzetti, President of the Argentine Supreme Court, also has said that Bergoglio is "completely innocent" of the accusations.^[97]

Relationship with de la Rúa[link]

Jorge Bergoglio became a noteworthy political figure when he became head of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires in 1998. Fernando de la Rúa replaced Carlos Menem as president of Argentina the following year. As an archbishop, Bergoglio celebrated the annual Mass at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral on the First National Government holiday, May 25. In 2000, Bergoglio criticized the perceived apathy of society.^[98] During police repression of the riots of December 2001 he contacted the Ministry of the Interior and asked that the police distinguish rioters engaged in acts of vandalism from peaceful protesters.^[99]

Relationship with the Kirchners[link]

Pope Francis with Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

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.^[100] Kirchner celebrated the national day elsewhere the following year and the Mass in the Cathedral was suspended.^[101] Kirchner considered Bergoglio as a political rival to the day he died in October 2010.^[102] 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.^[102] The campaign to enact same-sex marriage legislation was a particularly tense period in their relations.^[102]

In 2006, Bergoglio publicly opposed an attempt by the Argentine government to legalize some cases of abortion.^[103] In 2007, after the government intervened to allow an abortion for a mentally handicapped woman who had been raped, Bergolio said that "in Argentina we have the death penalty. A child conceived by the rape of a mentally ill or retarded woman can be condemned to death." Kirchner said in response that "the diagnosis of the Church in relation to social problems in Argentina is correct, but to mix that with abortion and euthanasia is at least a clear example of ideological malfeasance."^{[104][lower-alpha 4]}

In 2012, Bergoglio participated in the 30th anniversary commemoration of the Falklands War.^[106]

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.^[107][108]

Relations with religious communities and others[link]

Interfaith dialogue[link]

Bergoglio has written about his commitment to open and respectful interfaith dialogue as a way for all parties engaged in that dialogue to learn from one another.^[109] In the 2011 book that records his conversations with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Sobre el cielo y la tierra, Bergoglio said:^[109]

Dialogue is born from an attitude of respect for the other person, from a conviction that the other person has something good to say. It assumes that there is room in the heart for the person’s point of view, opinion, and proposal. To dialogue entails a cordial reception, not a prior condemnation. In order to dialogue it is necessary to know how to lower the defenses, open the doors of the house, and offer human warmth.

Religious leaders in Buenos Aires have stated that it was Bergoglio who "opened up the Cathedral in Buenos Aires for interfaith ceremonies".^[110] For example, in November 2012 he brought "leaders of the Jewish, Muslim, evangelical, and Orthodox Christian faiths" together in the Cathedral to pray for peace in the Middle East.^[110] Leaders quoted in a 2013 Associated Press article said that Bergoglio has a "very deep capacity for dialogue with other religions", and considers "healing divisions between religions a major part of the Catholic Church's mission".^[110]

Shortly after his election, the pope called for more interreligious dialogue as a way of "building bridges" and establishing “true links of friendship between all people".^[111] He added that it was crucial “to intensify outreach to nonbelievers, so that the differences which divide and hurt us may never prevail".^[111] He said that his title of "pontiff" means "builder of bridges", and that it was his wish that "the dialogue between us should help to build bridges connecting all people, in such a way that everyone can see in the other not an enemy, not a rival, but a brother or sister to be welcomed and embraced."^[111]

Eastern Orthodox Church[link]

Bergoglio is recognized for his efforts "to further close the nearly 1,000-year estrangement with the Orthodox Churches".^[112] Antoni Sevruk, rector of the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome, said that Bergoglio "often visited Orthodox services in the Russian Orthodox Annunciation Cathedral in Buenos Aires" and is known as an advocate on behalf the Orthodox Church in dealing with Argentina's government.^[113]

Bergoglio's positive relationship with the Eastern Orthodox Churches is reflected in the fact that Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople attended his installation.^[114] This is the first time since the Great Schism of 1054 that the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, a position considered first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox Church organization, has attended a papal installation.^[115] Orthodox leaders state that Bartholomew's decision to attend the ceremony shows that the relationship between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches is a priority of his, but they also note that Francis's "well-documented work for social justice and his insistence that globalization is detrimental to the poor" may have created a "renewed opportunity" for the two Church communities to "work collectively on issues of mutual concern".^{[114][lower-alpha 5]}

Protestantism[link]

Gregory Venables, Anglican Bishop of Argentina, said that Cardinal Bergoglio had told him very clearly that the Personal Ordinariate(s) (the branch of the Catholic Church set up for defecting Anglicans) was "quite unnecessary", and that the Catholic Church needed Anglicans as Anglicans. A spokesman for the Ordinariate said the words were those of Venables, not the Pope.^[117]

Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) greeted the news of Bergoglio's election with a public statement that praised his work with Lutherans in Argentina.^[118]

Evangelical leaders including Argentine Luis Palau, who moved to the US in his twenties, have welcomed the news of Bergoglio's election as Pope based on his relations with Evangelical Protestants, noting that Bergoglio's financial manager for the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires was an Evangelical Christian whom Bergoglio refers to as a friend.^[119] Palau recounts how Bergoglio would not only relax and "drink mate" with that friend, but would also read the Bible and pray with him, based on what Bergoglio called a relationship of friendship and trust.^[119] Palau describes Bergoglio's approach to relationships with Evangelicals as one of "building bridges and showing respect, knowing the differences, but majoring on what we can agree on: on the divinity of Jesus, his virgin birth, his resurrection, the second coming."^[119] As a result of Bergoglio's election, Palau predicts that "tensions will be eased."^[119]

Juan Pablo Bongarrá, president of the Argentine Bible Society, recounts that Bergoglio not only met with Evangelicals, and prayed with them—but he also asked them to pray for him.^[120] Bongarrá notes that Bergoglio would frequently end a conversation with the request, "Pastor, pray for me."^[120] Additionally, Bongarrá tells the story of a weekly worship meeting of charismatic pastors in Buenos Aires, which Bergoglio attended: "He mounted the platform and called for pastors to pray for him. He knelt in front of nearly 6,000 people, and [the Protestant leaders there] laid hands and prayed."^[120]

Other Evangelical leaders agree that Bergoglio's relationships in Argentina make him "situated to better understand Protestantism".^[121] Noting that the divide between Catholicism and Protestantism is often present among members of the same families in Argentina, and is therefore an extremely important human issue, "Francis could set the tone for more compassionate conversations among families about the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism."^[121]

Judaism[link]

Bergoglio has close ties to the Jewish community of Argentina, and attended Rosh Hashanah (Jewish new year) services in 2007 at a synagogue in Buenos Aires. Bergoglio told the Jewish congregation during his visit that he went to the synagogue to examine his heart, "like a pilgrim, together with you, my elder brothers".^[122] After the 1994 AMIA bombing of a Jewish Community Center there that killed 85 people, Bergoglio was the first public figure to sign a petition condemning the attack and calling for justice. Jewish community leaders around the world noted that his words and actions "showed solidarity with the Jewish community" in the aftermath of this attack.^[122]

A former head of the World Jewish Congress, Israel Singer, reported that he worked with Bergoglio in the early 2000s, distributing aid to the poor as part of a joint Jewish-Catholic program called "Tzedaká". Singer noted that he was impressed with Bergoglio's modesty, remembering that "if everyone sat in chairs with handles [arms], he would sit in the one without."^[122] Bergoglio also co-hosted a Kristallnacht memorial ceremony at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral in 2012,^[122] and joined a group of clerics from a number of different religions to light candles in a 2012 synagogue ceremony on the occasion of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.^[123]

Abraham Skorka, the rector of the Latin-American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, and Bergoglio published their conversations on religious and philosophical subjects as Sobre el cielo y la tierra (On Heaven and Earth).^[124] An editorial in Israel's Jerusalem Post notes that "Unlike John Paul II, who as a child had positive memories of the Jews of his native Poland but due to the Holocaust had no Jewish community to interact with in Poland as an adult, Pope Francis has maintained a sustained and very positive relationship with a living, breathing [Jewish] community in Buenos Aires."^[124]

One of the pope's first official actions was writing a letter to Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, inviting him to the papal installation and sharing his hope of collaboration between the Catholic and Jewish communities.^[125] Addressing representatives of Jewish organizations and communities, Francis said that, "due to our common roots [a] Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!"^[126][127]

Islam[link]

Leaders of the Islamic community in Buenos Aires welcomed the news of Bergoglio's election as pope, noting that he "always showed himself as a friend of the Islamic community", and a person whose position is "pro-dialogue".^[128] They praised Bergoglio's close ties with the Islamic community and noted his comments when Pope Benedict's 2006 Regensburg lecture was interpreted by many as denigrating Islam.^[129] According to them, Bergoglio immediately distanced himself from Benedict's language and said that statements that create outrage within the Islamic community "will serve to destroy in 20 seconds the careful construction of a relationship with Islam that Pope John Paul II built over the last 20 years.”^[129]

Bergoglio visited both a mosque and an Islamic school in Argentina, visits that Sheik Mohsen Ali, the Director for the Diffusion of Islam, called actions that strengthened the relationship between the Catholic and Islamic communities.^[128] Dr. Sumer Noufouri, Secretary General of the Islamic Center of the Argentine Republic (CIRA), added that Bergoglio's past actions make his election as pope a cause within the Islamic community of "joy and expectation of strengthening dialogue between religions".^[128] Noufouri said that the relationship between CIRA and Bergoglio over the course of a decade had helped to build up Christian-Muslim dialogue in a way that was "really significant in the history of monotheistic relations in Argentina".^[128]

Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar and president of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, sent congratulations after the pope's election.^[130] Al-Tayeb had "broken off relations with the Vatican" during Benedict XVI's time as pope, so his statement has been recognized as a "sign of openness" for the future.^[130] However, his message of congratulations also included the request that "Islam asks for respect from the new pontiff".^[130]

Shortly after his election, in a meeting with ambassadors from the 180 countries accredited with the Holy See, Pope Francis called for more interreligious dialogue – "particularly with Islam".^[111] He also expressed gratitude that "so many civil and religious leaders from the Islamic world" had attended his installation Mass.^[111] An editorial in the Saudi Arabian paper Saudi Gazette strongly welcomed the pope's call for increased interfaith dialogue, stressing that while the pope was "reiterating a position he has always maintained", his public call as pope for increased dialogue with Islam "comes as a whiff of fresh air at a time when much of the Western world is experiencing a nasty outbreak of Islamophobia".^[131]

Nonbelievers[link]

Speaking to journalists and media employees on 16 March 2013, Pope Francis said he would bless them silently, "Given that many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church, and others are not believers".^[132] In his papal address on 20 March, he said the "attempt to eliminate God and the Divine from the horizon of humanity" resulted in violence, but described as well his feelings about nonbelievers:^[133][134] “[W]e also sense our closeness to all those men and women who, although not identifying themselves as followers of any religious tradition, are nonetheless searching for truth, goodness and beauty, the truth, goodness and beauty of God. They are our valued allies in the commitment to defending human dignity, in building a peaceful coexistence between peoples and in safeguarding and caring for creation.”

Some atheists expressed hope that Francis would prove to be progressive on issues like poverty and social inequality,^[135] while others were more skeptical that he would be "interested in a partnership of equals".^[136]

Francis believes atheists who do good are good people and he appeared to say in May 2013 that all who do good can be redeemed through Jesus, including atheists. Francis stated that God “has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! (…) Even the atheists,” Everyone!” ^[137] Later Thomas Rosica stated non-Catholics who ”know” the Roman Catholic Church can only get to Heaven by converting to Catholicism. Outspoken atheist, Richard Dawkins commented “Atheists go to heaven? Nope. Sorry world, infallible pope got it wrong. Vatican steps in with alacrity.” Author, Neale Donald Walsch stated, “it was regrettable that the hidden hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church chose to officially retract the recent statement on eternal damnation bravely made by its new leader, Pope Francis.” ^[138]

Hendrik Hertzberg suggests in the The New Yorker magazine Rosica used weasel words and left imprecise how much a non-Catholic needs to know about Catholicism before according to Church doctrine that person is required to enter the Church or be damned. Further Rosica published his statement in Toronto through Zenit News Agency rather than through the Vatican or the Holy See. Hertzberg claims imprecision is deliberate and speculates in the Catholic Church there may be major internal disagreement between supporters and opponents of Vatican II. ^[139]

Papacy[link]

Coat of arms of Pope Francis as Cardinal (left) and as Pope (right). The gold star represents the Virgin Mary, the grape-like plant – the spikenard – is associated with Saint Joseph and the IHS emblem is the symbol of the Jesuits[140][141][142]

Elected at the age of 76, Francis is reported to be in good health, and his doctors have stated that his missing lung tissue (which was removed in 1957)^[21] does not have a significant impact on his health.^[143] The only concern would be decreased respiratory reserve if he had a respiratory infection.^[144] In the past, one attack of sciatica in 2007 prevented him from attending a consistory and delayed his return to Argentina for several days.^[67]

As pope his manner is less formal than that of his 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] For example, on the night of his election he took the 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 Friday after his election, the Pope said of Saint Francis of Assisi: "The man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man," and he added "How I would like a poor Church, and for the poor".^[148]

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.^[149] There are already efforts to name other streets after him, as well as a school where he studied as a child.^[149]

In addition to his native Spanish, Francis is conversant in Latin (the official language of the Holy See), Italian (the official language of Vatican City and the "everyday language" of the Holy See), German,^[150] French,^[151] Portuguese,^[152] English,^[153] Ukrainian,^[154] and Piedmontese.^[155] He is "most comfortable" in Spanish, but is also "completely fluent" in Italian.^[156] As of May 2013 sales of papal souvenirs, a sign of popularity, were up.^[157]

Election[link]

Bergoglio was elected pope on 13 March 2013,^[158][159] the second day of the 2013 papal conclave, taking the papal name Francis.^[160] Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of the conclave.^[161] The Habemus Papam was delivered by Cardinal protodeacon Jean-Louis Tauran.^[162] 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 of friends of Schönborn who whispered Bergoglio's name in Schönborn's ear; Schönborn commented "if these people say Bergoglio, that’s an indication of the Holy Spirit".^[163]

Francis appears to the public for the first time as pope, at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, 13 March 2013.

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.^[164][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^[164][166] used by the previous Popes.^[167] He also wore the same iron pectoral cross that he had worn as Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the gold one worn by his predecessors.^[166]

After being elected and choosing his name, his first act was bestowing the Urbi et Orbi blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. Before blessing the pilgrims, he asked those in St. Peter's Square to pray for his predecessor, pope emeritus Benedict XVI, and for himself.^[168][169]

Among the people at St. Peter's Square

Name[link]

At his first audience on 16 March 2013, Francis told journalists that he had chosen the name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, and had done so because he was especially concerned for the well-being of the poor.^{[170][171][172]} 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.^[173][174] 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."^[175]

This is the first time that a pope has been named Francis^{[lower-alpha 6]} and the first time since Pope Lando's 913–914 reign that a serving pope held a name not used by a predecessor.^{[lower-alpha 7]}

Francis also said that some cardinal-electors had jokingly suggested to him that he should choose either "Adrian", since Pope Adrian VI had been a reformer of the church, or "Clement" as "payback" to Pope Clement XIV who had suppressed the Jesuit order.^[178][179]

Inauguration[link]

Inauguration of Pope Francis, 19 March 2013

Pope Francis held his Papal inauguration on 19 March 2013 in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. He celebrated Mass in the presence of various political and religious leaders from around the world.^[180] In his homily Pope Francis focused on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the liturgical day on which the Mass was celebrated.^[181]

Residence[link]

Francis elected not to live in the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace, but to remain in the Vatican guest house. He was upgraded to 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.^[182] Francis plans to appear at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Sunday Angelus.^[183]

Curia[link]

On 16 March 2013, Pope Francis asked all those in senior positions of the Roman Curia to "provisionally continue" in office "until other provisions are made".^[184] He named Alfred Xuereb as his personal secretary.^[185] 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.^[186] Francis withheld the traditional bonuses paid to Vatican employees upon the election of a pope, a cost of several million Euro, making a donation to charity instead.^[187] He eliminated the 25,000 Euro annual bonus paid each of the five cardinals who serves on the Board of Supervisors the Vatican bank as well.^[188]

On 13 April 2013, he named a group of 8 cardinals to advise him and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus, including several known as critics of Vatican operations and only one member of the Curia.^[189] 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 Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga from Honduras. He appointed Bishop Marcello Semeraro secretary for the group and scheduled its first meeting for 1–3 October.^[190]

Early issues[link]

Francis among the people at St. Peter's Square.

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, on the grounds that it is anomalous that married Anglican priests can be received into the Catholic Church and ordained as priests (via the 2009 Anglican ordinariate), but married Catholic men cannot do the same.^[191]

Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem included a call in his 2013 Easter homily for the pope to visit Jerusalem.^[192] Louis Raphael I, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, asked the pope to visit the "embattled Christian community" in Iraq.^[193] President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner invited the pope to visit Argentina. Kirchner extended the invitation when she visited the Vatican before the pope's inauguration, asking for his help in terms of "smoothing tensions with Britain over the Falkland Islands".^[194] Monsignor Michael McPartland, the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands, stated that "[Francis] must be seen as Pope first and where he comes from should not figure in the equation. But I would also like to think he would have a beneficial impact and perhaps be able to express some soothing words that would help the situation here."^[195]

On the first Holy Thursday following his election, Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 juvenile offenders, ages 14–21, at Rome's Casal del Marmo detention facility, telling them the ritual of foot washing is a sign that he is at their service.^[196] He told them to "Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us."^[196] According to church experts, this was the first time that a pope has included women in this ritual (there were two women and 10 men).^[196] Canon lawyer Edward Peters noted that this was a break with canon law, although not with any "divine directive".^[196] The twelve included two Muslims,^[197] including one of the two women.^[198] Before leaving, the pope told the detainees, "Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope."^[197]

Raymond Arroyo, EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network news director, stated that it is clear that Francis "is intent on bringing the message of the church out to the world" and wants priests to work "amid the people in the muck of life".^[199] Arroyo said that when Francis told priests on Holy Thursday "to go look for the lost sheep", the message was that priests should be like shepherds who are so close to their flock that they "smell like their sheep".^[199][200]

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.^[201] 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.^[201] He said that "We ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace."^[202] Although the Vatican had prepared greetings in 65 languages, Francis chose not to read them.^[156] According to the Vatican, the pope "at least for now, feels at ease using Italian, the everyday language of the Holy See".^[203]

On 15 April 2013, Francis reaffirmed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's criticism of the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious.^[204] He reinstated the "program of reform", reaffirming the "reprimand of American nuns issued by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI." The Vatican formed the opinion last year that "the nun's 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" as written in The New York Times.^[205][206]

On 12 May, Francis issued his first canonizations of his papacy. All those who were canonized were approved during the reign of Benedict XVI. His canonizations included the first Colombian saint, Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena the second female Mexican saint, Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, and the Martyrs of Otranto. On the occasion he said: "While we venerate the martyrs of Otrante, 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." He also commented on the issue of abortion in saying legislation should be introduced to "protect all human beings from the first moment of their existence."^[207]

Vatican Bank[link]

Early in Francis's papacy the Institute for the Works of Religion, also known as the Vatican Bank and one of the most secretive in the world, said that they would become more transparent;^[208] there had long been allegations of corruption and money laundering connected with the bank. ^[209][210] Francis appointed a commission to advise him about reform of the Bank^[209][210].

Vatileaks[link]

Towards the end of the papacy of Benedict XVI there were rumours about a significant number of influential gay clerics within the Vatican. The speculation peaked in February when, soon after Benedict XVI resigned, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica claimed he had decided to resign after receiving a dossier investigating the "Vatileaks scandal" containing details of a network of gay prelates, some of whom were vulnerable to blackmail.^[211]

On 12 June 2013 it was reported that leaked notes of a private conversation between Francis and Catholic officials at the Latin American Conference of Religious (CLAR) confirmed the existence of "a stream of corruption", and that "The 'gay lobby' is mentioned, and it is true, it is there … We need to see what we can do". CLAR confirmed that its leaders had written a synopsis of the pope's remarks, although not for publication. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi made no comment on the remarks made in "a private meeting".^[211]

Teachings[link]

{{#invoke: Sidebar | collapsible }}

Encountering Jesus and rejecting worldliness[link]

In both his first homily as Pope and in his first address to the cardinals, Francis talked about walking in the presence of Jesus Christ and stressed the church mission to announce him. In the audience with the cardinals, he emphasized the concept of "encounter with Jesus":

Stimulated by the Year of Faith, all together, pastors and faithful, we will make an effort to respond faithfully to the eternal mission: to bring Jesus Christ to humanity, and to lead humanity to an encounter with Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life, truly present in the Church and, at the same time, in every person. This encounter makes us become new men in the mystery of Grace, provoking in our hearts the Christian joy that is a hundredfold that given us by Christ to those who welcome Him into their lives.^[212]

In his homily, he stressed that "if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord." He went on to teach that "When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil... when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly".^[213]

The theme of rejecting "spiritual worldliness", has been described as a "leitmotif" of his teachings even before he became pope.^[214] Understanding this worldliness as "putting oneself at the center", he said that it is the "greatest danger for the Church, for us, who are in the Church".^[215]

Morality as response to God's mercy[link]

Francis preached on his first visit to a parish that "this is the Lord’s most powerful message: mercy."^[216] His motto, Miserando atque eligendo, is about Jesus' mercy towards sinners. The phrase is taken from a homily of St. Bede, who commented that Jesus "saw the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said to him: 'Follow me'" (italics added to refer to English translation of the Latin motto).^[44]

The motto is a reference to the moment he changed his life when he was 17 years old and found his vocation to the priesthood. He started a day of student celebrations by going to confession. "A strange thing happened to me...It was a surprise, the astonishment of an encounter...This is the religious experience: the astonishment of encountering someone who was waiting for you... God is the one who seeks us first."^[217]

As cardinal he viewed morality in the context of an encounter with Christ that is "triggered" by mercy": "the privileged locus of the encounter is the caress of the mercy of Jesus Christ on my sin." And thus, he says, a new morality—a correspondence to mercy—is born. He views this morality as a "revolution": it is "not a titanic effort of the will", but "simply a response" to a "surprising, unforeseeable, and 'unjust' mercy". Morality is "not a 'never falling down' but an 'always getting up again.'"^[218]

The Gospel reading for the Sunday he was scheduled to give his first public address as pope was on Jesus' forgiveness of the adulteress woman. This allowed him to discuss ideas such as: God never wearies of forgiving us; hearing the word mercy, this word changes everything; mercy is beautiful; never tire in asking for forgiveness.^[219]

Creative transformation in evangelization[link]

Another theme Pope Francis emphasized in his first address to the cardinals^[212] is the new evangelization. He talked about "the certainty that the Holy Spirit gives His Church, with His powerful breath, the courage to persevere and to search for new ways to evangelize."

It is a theme he has repeated in other occasions, specifically in his biography, where he spoke about "transforming pastoral modes" and "revising the internal life of the church so as to go out to the faithful people of God," with "great creativity." He observed that church cannot be passively waiting for clientele among people who are no longer evangelized and who "will not get near structures and old forms that do not respond to their expectations and sensibilities." He asked for pastoral conversion from a church that regulates the faith to a church that transmits and facilitates the faith.^[217]

He said that the heart of the mission is summarized in this: "if one remains in the Lord one goes out of oneself... Fidelity is always a change, a blossoming, a growth." Key to evangelization is the role of the laity who should avoid the "problem" of being clericalized as their "baptism alone should suffice".^[220]

Capitalism[link]

Pope Francis urged world leaders to prevent excessive respect for money, which he said had become "worship of the golden calf" (idolatry), and urged world leaders to help poor people more.^[221] Dealing with the financial crisis, the pope criticized unbridled capitalism and said it was a "tyranny" that judged human beings purely by their ability to consume goods, and that the "cult of money" was making people miserable.^[222]

Francis said that the economic crisis happened because we accept that money rules us, and ethics are too frequently treated as inconvenient and disregarded.^[223]

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel consulted Francis on 18 May 2013, and later the same day called for more stringent controls of financial markets.^[225] US senator Bernie Sanders is also supportive.^[226] Francis has referred many times to the European sovereign-debt crisis which causes suffering in Greece and Roman Catholic Southern European nations.^[157] Pope Francis feels it matters a great deal when people care more about the financial crisis than about for example people starving, children not having enough to eat and homeless people freezing to death.^[225]

Poverty and economic inequality[link]

At a meeting of Latin American bishops in 2007 Bergoglio said "[w]e live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most, yet reduced misery the least" and that "[t]he unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers".^[227] On 30 September 2009, Bergoglio spoke at a conference organized by the Argentina City Postgraduate School (EPOCA) at the Alvear Palace Hotel titled "Las deudas sociales de nuestro tiempo" ("The Social Debts of Our Time") in which he quoted the 1992 "Documento de Santo Domingo"^[228] by the Latin American Episcopal Conference, saying "extreme poverty and unjust economic structures that cause great inequalities" are violations of human rights.^[229][230] He went on to describe social debt as "immoral, unjust and illegitimate".^[231]

During a 48-hour public servant strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio observed the differences between "poor people who are persecuted for demanding work, and rich people who are applauded for fleeing from justice".^[232] In 2002, during an economic crisis, Bergoglio harshly criticized those in power, saying, "Let's not tolerate the sad spectacle of those who keep seeking new ways to lie and contradict themselves to hold onto their privileges, their rapaciousness, and their ill-earned wealth."^[233][234] During a May 2010 speech in Argentina regarding the poor, he directed his message to the wealthy by saying: "You avoid taking into account the poor. We have no right to duck down, to lower the arms carried by those in despair. We must reclaim the memory of our country who has a mother, recover the memory of our Mother".^[235] In 2011, Bergoglio stated: "There is a daily anesthesia that this city knows how to use very well, and it is called bribery, and with this anesthesia the conscience is numbed. Buenos Aires is a bribe-taking city."^[236]

In 2011, Bergoglio decried sweatshops and homelessness in Buenos Aires as forms of slavery:^[236]

In this city, slavery is the order of the day in various forms, in this city workers are exploited in sweatshops and, if immigrants, are deprived of the opportunity to get out. In this city, there are kids on the streets for years....... The city failed and continues to fail in the attempt to free them from this structural slavery that is homelessness.

In line with the Catholic Church's efforts to care for AIDS victims, in 2001 he visited a hospice and he washed and kissed the feet of 12 AIDS patients.^[227]

Pope Francis spoke out over the Savar building collapse and condemned the low pay workers received.^[237]

Francis has called for sympathy for refugees, displaced persons and victims of human trafficking. He said that such people require special pastoral care to help them to integrate into the host society.^[238]

Shortly after his accession it was said that

Francis is hard to pigeonhole as a “conservative” or “liberal” when it comes to politics or economics, partly because he has written so little compared to his predecessors. He comes from a country that is “corporatist, mercantilist and almost fascist,” Father Sirico says, but although he feels the Pope will veer towards supporting the welfare state, he also has a “rich understanding of the importance of work and paying one’s bills.”^[239]

Food waste and starvation[link]

Pope Francis believes wasting food is like stealing from the hungry, he said

Pope Francis feels it is scandalous that in the 21st century people are still suffering and dying of starvation and calls on the FAO to ensure that adequate food reaches everybody. The pope feels food resources are adequate but food is distributed unequally.

Liberation theology[link]

Roberto Bosca at the University of Astral in Buenos Aires claims Pope Francis is to some extent sympathetic towards Liberation theology: "Despite Bergoglio's reputation as an opponent of liberation theology during the 1970s, Bosca insists that wasn't actually the case. He said Bergoglio accepted the premise of liberation theology, especially the option for the poor, but in a 'nonideological' fashion."^[242]

Leonardo Boff is also optimistic as are others who appreciate that the new pope ministered frequently in slums, further the writings of Francis do not see social action as heretical.^[243]

Boff claimed,

With this pope, a Jesuit and a pope from the Third World, we can breathe happiness. Pope Francis has both the vigor and tenderness that we need to create a new spiritual world. Pope Francis comes with the perspective that many of us in Latin America share. In our churches we do not just discuss theological theories, like in European churches. Our churches work together to support universal causes, causes like human rights, from the perspective of the poor, the destiny of humanity that is suffering, services for people living on the margins.^[243][244]

Rachel Donadio of the New York Times has written,

Francis’ speeches clearly draw on the themes of liberation theology, a movement that seeks to use the teachings of the Gospel to help free people from poverty and that has been particularly strong in his native Latin America. (...) Francis studied with an Argentine Jesuit priest who was a proponent of liberation theology, and Father Lombardi acknowledged the echoes. “But what is clear is that he was always against the strains of liberation theology that had an ideological Marxist element,” he said.^[245]

Others are more pessimistic.
Consortium News claims Francis has a traditional, limited approach to helping poor people and is uneasy about Liberation theology: "The new pope has not been comfortable with liberation theology. It is possible to speak on behalf of the poor without supporting the real fundamental changes that are present with liberation theology."^[246] and that "Bergoglio's approach fits with the Church's attitude for centuries, to give 'charity' to the poor while doing little to change their cruel circumstances – as Church grandees hobnob with the rich and powerful."^[247]

Writing in Tikkun magazine, author Matthew Fox claims that Bergoglio "fought liberation theology tooth and nail as head of the bishops' conference and he was an effective instigator of papal attitudes in this regard (the CIA under Reagan linked up with Pope John Paul II to kill liberation theology...)."^[248]

According to Sandro Magister, Pope Francis is more concerned about militant secularism than liberation theology. Magister claims Francis cares about the global spread of concepts including easy legal abortion and gay marriage which Francis sees as the work of the devil and the Antichrist. Magister claims the aims of liberation theology are less important for Francis than fighting secularism.^[249]

Position of women[link]

Francis spoke out often about the "fundamental importance" of women in the Roman Catholic Church, stressing that they have a special role in spreading the faith, and that they were the "first witnesses" of the resurrection.^[250] He said:^[251]

[O]nly men are remembered as witnesses of the Resurrection, the Apostles, but not the women. This is because, according to the Jewish Law of the time, women and children were not considered reliable, credible witnesses. In the Gospels, however, women have a primary, fundamental role. (...) the first witnesses.... This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and women, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness!... [T]his also leads us to reflect on how in the Church and in the journey of faith, women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord....

He addressed the subject of women in the church very many times.^[252] Pope Francis like Benedict XVI and John Paul II before him, sees women in the Church as "special" and believes they are fundamentally different from men. Without women the Church "would be missing maternity, affection, tenderness." Despite this in the opinion of Francis women in the Church should follow the teachings of the Magisterium given by the pope and bishops faithfully and obediently remaining subservient to men.^[253]

Unwed mothers[link]

In criticizing the priests who refused to baptize children born to unmarried women, Cardinal Bergoglio argued that the mothers had done the right thing by giving life to the child and should not be shunned by the church:^{[254][255][256]}

In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don't baptise the children of single mothers because they weren't conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today's hypocrites. Those who clericalise the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it's baptised!

Criticism of clergy[link]

Francis believes clergy should be shepherds looking after the people but knows clerics can be tempted and corrupted by power. Then the clergy take from the people instead of giving, Simony and other corruption can follow. Love between the clergy and the people is destroyed.^[257] Francis fears some clerics become, "become wolves and not shepherds." He criticized, "spiritual worldliness," which can be defined as deceitfully trying to appear holy and stated that "Careerism and the search for a promotion [to the hierarchy] come under the category of spiritual worldliness." Francis gave an example of clerical vanity, "Look at the peacock; it's beautiful if you look at it from the front. But if you look at it from behind, you discover the truth ... Whoever gives in to such self-absorbed vanity has huge misery hiding inside them."^[258] Francis believes bishops and priests should resist temptations to money, "careerism" and "vanity".^[259]

Celibacy of priests[link]

As a cardinal, Bergoglio's views regarding the celibacy of priests were recorded in the book On Heaven and Earth, a record of conversations conducted with a Buenos Aires rabbi.^[260] He commented that celibacy "is a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change" but added: "For the moment, I am in favor of maintaining celibacy, with all its pros and cons, because we have ten centuries of good experiences rather than failures [...] Tradition has weight and validity."^[261] He noted that "in the Byzantine, Ukrainian, Russian, and Greek Catholic Churches [...] the priests can be married, but the bishops have to be celibate".^{[261][lower-alpha 8]} He said that many of those in Western Catholicism who are pushing for more discussion about the issue do so from a position of "pragmatism", based on a loss of manpower.^[261] He states that "If, hypothetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issue of celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons (as in the East), not so much as a universal option."^[261] He emphasized that, in the meantime, the rule must be strictly adhered to, and any priest who cannot obey it "has to leave the ministry".^[261]

The National Catholic Reporter's Vatican analyst, Thomas Reese, also a Jesuit, called Bergoglio's use of "conditional language" regarding the rule of celibacy "remarkable".^[260] He said that phrases like "for the moment" and "for now" are "not the kind of qualifications one normally hears when bishops and cardinals discuss celibacy."^[260]

Child abuse[link]

During most of the 14 years that Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rights advocates say, he did not take decisive action to protect children or act swiftly when molestation charges surfaced; nor did he extend apologies and compensation to the victims of abusive priests after their misconduct came to light.^[262] Later Argentina was among 25% of bishops conferences that did not reach the deadline for getting policies in place to deal with complaints and accused priests.^[263][264]

Pope Francis told Gerhard Ludwig Müller who leads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and is the Vatican official in charge of dealing with the crisis, to act decisively, protect minors, help victims of past abuse and introduce unspecified "necessary procedures" against perpetrators who should be punished. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) called for action instead of words.^{[265][266][267]} By contrast among others Jeffrey Anderson, an attorney who fought many court cases on behalf of abuse victims is hopeful that Francis will act to protect children.^[263][268]

In October 2007, Bergoglio denounced the tolerance of child abuse, which he called "demographic terrorism". He told a conference:^[269]

Children are mistreated, and are not educated or fed. Many are made into prostitutes and exploited. And this happens here in Buenos Aires, in the great city of the south. Child prostitution is offered in some five star hotels: it is included in the entertainment menu, under the heading "Other".

In 2011, Bergoglio again condemned child trafficking and sex slavery in Buenos Aires:^[236]

In this city, there are many girls who stop playing with dolls to enter the dump of a brothel because they were stolen, sold, betrayed ... In this city, women and girls are kidnapped, and they are subjected to use and abuse of their body; they are destroyed in their dignity. The flesh that Jesus assumed and died for is worth less than the flesh of a pet. A dog is cared for better than these slaves of ours, who are kicked, who are broken.

Contraception[link]

Reports that Francis believes that the use of contraceptives in order to prevent disease may be permissible^[270][271] have been disputed by others who call him "unwaveringly orthodox on matters of sexual morality".^[272] He opposed the free distribution of contraceptives when it was introduced by the Kirchner government.^[273]

Child labour[link]

Pope Francis described child labour as a plague which prevents children getting a normal healthy childhood, children should have time for play, study and growth. The pope says many girls endure domestic labour in conditions comparable to slavery and many endure abuse. ^[274]

Same-sex marriage[link]

Bergoglio affirms the Church's teaching: that homosexual practice is intrinsically immoral, but that every homosexual person should be treated with respect and love (because temptation is not in and of itself sinful).^[275] Bergoglio opposes same-sex marriage. When Argentina was considering legalizing it in 2010, Bergoglio opposed the legislation,^[276][277] calling it a "real and dire anthropological throwback".^[278] In July 2010, while the law was under consideration, he wrote a letter to Argentina's cloistered nuns in which he said:^{[276][279][280]}

In the coming weeks, the Argentine people will face a situation whose outcome can seriously harm the family...At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God's law engraved in our hearts.

Let's not be naive: This is not a simple political fight; it is a destructive proposal to God's plan. This is not a mere legislative proposal (that's just its form), but a move by the father of lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God... Let's look to St. Joseph, Mary, and the Child to ask fervently that they defend the Argentine family in this moment... May they support, defend, and accompany us in this war of God.

After L'Osservatore Romano reported this, several priests expressed their support for the law and one was defrocked.^[281] Observers believe that the church's opposition and Bergoglio's language worked in favor of the law's passage and that in response Catholic officials adopted a more conciliatory tone in later debates on social issues such as parental surrogacy.^[282][283]

Rubin, Bergoglio's biographer, said that while taking a strong stand against same-sex marriage, Bergoglio raised the possibility in 2010 with his bishops in Argentina that they support the idea of civil unions as a compromise position.^[284] According to one news report, "a majority of the bishops voted to overrule him".^[284] Miguel Woites, the director of the Catholic News Agency of Argentina, denied that Bergoglio ever made such a proposal,^[285][286] but additional sources, including two Argentine journalists and two senior officials of the Argentine bishops conference, supported Rubin's account.^[287]

According to two gay rights activists, Marcelo Márquez and Andrés Albertsen, in private conversations with them Bergoglio expressed support for the spiritual needs of "homosexual people" and willingness to support "measured actions" on their behalf.^[284][288]

Organized crime[link]

Speaking a day after the beatification of Pino Puglisi, a priest killed on orders of the organized criminal syndicate Cosa Nostra (Sicilian mafia), Pope Francis condemned the mafia. He called for prayer to God to convert the hearts of these people, to convert the men and women involved with the mafia to God. "I think of the great pain suffered by men, women and even children, exploited by so many mafias," Francis said, he condemned the mafia further for, "making them do work that makes them slaves, prostitution." ^[289][290] David Willey of the BBC said that the Catholic Church had been accused in the past of an ambiguous relationship towards Cosa Nostra, the men who for decades controlled organized crime on Sicily, and that by beatifying Father Puglisi, the Church is making a strong stand against mafia crime—which has been protected by a code of silence.^[291]

Titles and styles[link]

{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}

The official style of the Pope in English is His Holiness Pope Francis; in Latin, Franciscus, Episcopus Romae. Holy Father is another honorific often used for popes.

His full title, rarely used, is:

His Holiness Francis, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God.

The best-known title, that of "Pope", does not appear in the official list of titles, but is commonly used in the titles of documents, and appears, in abbreviated form, in their signatures as "PP." standing for Papa (Pope).^{[292][293][294][295][296]}

It is customary when referring to popes to translate the regnal name into local languages. Thus he is Papa Franciscus in Latin (the official language of the Holy See), Papa Francesco in Italian (the language of the Vatican), Papa Francisco in his native Spanish, and Pope Francis in English.

Arms[link]

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Writings[link]

Books[link]

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Other[link]

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• Official Vatican transcript in English of IEC Catechesis The Eucharist: Gift from God for the life of the world (2008) (originally given in Spanish), 49th International Eucharistic Congress, Quebec, Canada
• Agencia Informativa Católica Argentina (1999–2012). Documentos de los obispos: Homilías y documentos del cardenal Bergoglio (in Spanish)

See also[link]

Portals Access related topics

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Notes[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

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External links[link]

Find more about Pope Francis at Wikipedia's sister projects
	Media from Commons
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Database entry Q450675 on Wikidata

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• Vatican: the Holy See – Vatican web site (Archived at WebCite)
  • Vatican Web site: Official biography of JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO published on the occasion of the Conclave by the Holy See Press Office with the information provided by the cardinals themselves
• Pope Francis on Twitter (Official Twitter account)
• Pope Francis's channel on YouTube (Official Vatican YouTube page, covering the Pope and related interests)

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