Friday 29 Mar 2024 - 12:00

01:29 pm

Visitors:
Online:

Pope Francis to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi Intellectual wealth and spiritual depth, molded with utter humbleness and rewarding energy

Written by Salma Abu Assaf

 

Translated by Rabab Housseiny


On March 13, 2013, with the inspiration of the divine trinity, Saint Peter's successor was elected. It is Pope Francis, Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentine.
The 266th prelate of the Roman Catholic Church is the first American and the first Jesuit to be elected as Pope. He is also the first to carry the name of Saint Francis, and the first non-European Pontiff.


His first phone call after his election on top of the Catholic Church in Rome was held with outgoing Benedict XVI, who resigned on February 11.

 

The name of Pope Francis has gone way beyond all expectations and speculations. At 7:05 pm Rome time, the white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel to herald to the world that the 115 Cardinals, from 64 various nationalities, have just chosen the new Supreme Pontiff, after the conclave convened for a day and a half.

 

The bells of Saint Peter Basilica tolled, as French Proto-deacon Jean-Louis Tauran called "Habemus Papam," to announce "We have a Pope."


Then the new 76-year-old Pontiff emerged onto the Basilica's balcony to address a crowd of faithful who had gathered at the Vatican Square and bestowed upon them his first "Urbi and Orbi" blessing.

A brief of his biography

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936, descending from an Italian family who had immigrated to Argentina. His father worked for the railway department and his mother was a simple housewife. At the age of 21, he received a bachelor in chemistry, entered the Society of Jesus and studied philosophy. He presented his doctoral thesis in Germany and mastered the German language. He later studied psychology and became rector of Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires. In 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed him as assistant bishop, then archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. In 2001, he was ordinated as Cardinal and the Archbishop of Argentina. He chaired the conference of Argentina archbishops and participated in the Latin American Episcopal Council, where he showed an acute sense of politics.

He toured the poor and deprived and spoke out in piazzas and private meetings with utter transparency. He called the priests to get closer to people, to their problems and concerns. His remarkable energy and unremitting mingling with the poor bore fruits in Latin America, this realm of the world which has the largest share of the world's Catholics.

Throughout his career, he was not a fancier of the limelight. He was known from his string defense of liturgy and he firmly opposed to legalizing gay marriage and abortion. He also stood in the face of those who prevented single mothers from baptizing their children. Undoubtedly, his agreeable personality--which brought closer two parties at loggerheads, namely the Roman conservative cardinals and foreign reformists--drew the attention of voting prelates and influenced their choice.


Patent humbleness

 

Albeit the name of the newly elected pope was not clear the moment it was announced, a lucid halo spoke out the new pontiff's patent humbleness. After he chose the name of he who will accompany him throughout his term and entered the Room of Tears to shed candid tears of emotion, he came out to the devout crowds and asked them, before he bestowed his blessings, to pray for him.


As the emotional masses yielded to solemn silence, the Pope bowed for prayers. They sensed he was close to them. The wooden cross on his chest mirrors how impressed he is by his patron Saint Francis Assisi, who devoted himself to helping the poor.

As it is known, Jorge Mario Bergoglio refused, after he became the archbishop of Buenos Aires, to live in the ornate church mansion and lived in a modest dwell nearby the Cathedral. He had no one to serve him, a close friend tells. He used public transportation, hated to travel, and used to sit in the back rows during lectures and meetings. Once, he was seen washing the feet of addicted. He loves to read and enjoys unmatched spiritual and intellectual depth.

Major challenges

Too many irons are pending in the fire for the newly elected Pope. It isn't an easy path that he will tread, amid the numerous problems inside the church on all levels and as the number of Catholics is decreasing in the world. There is also the issue of religions' dialogue, and quandaries such as sexual harassment and persecution of Christians. All this adds up to the mission of the new prelate.

Cardinals chose the Argentinean archbishop, who is close to the poor, to weather the storm sweeping the Church. Besides, a choice that did not fixe upon Europe indeed showed the modesty of the Vatican.

Today, the Church is in dire need for a spiritual leader to assume a model pastoral role, just like John Paul II, and to enjoy a liturgical strength just like Benedict XVI.


Will the new Pope follow in the footsteps of his patron Saint Francis Assisi, who met, in 1219, the King of Babylon, to end the war between Christians and Muslims back then? Will he seek to modernize the Church, not through stones and concrete, yet through humans, the very poor of the world?

 

=============R.A.H.

تابعوا أخبار الوكالة الوطنية للاعلام عبر أثير إذاعة لبنان على الموجات 98.5 و98.1 و96.2 FM

  • NNA Services
  • Email Service
  • Mobile App
  • Responsive Website