News from Italy
Bergaglio:
He was the Pope Francis, he became a popular hero
by Andira Vitale
“Bergoglio was a name that brought together two qualities that are rarely seen together. He had the political genius of a charismatic leader and the prophetic holiness of a desert saint.” Biographer Austen Ivereigh…
The calendars were showing March 13, 2013. White smoke had begun to rise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where the cardinals were locked in waiting to elect a new Pope. That evening, the eyes and ears of the whole world were on St. Peter’s Square. The name Jorge Mario Bergoglio was announced with the announcement “Habemus Papam.” The new Emperor, the Pope, gave his traditional first balcony speech. But as expected, he was not wearing a flashy red ermine cape and gold shawl. Unlike his predecessors, he was in his plain white tunic, saying, “Pray for me.” Pope Francis had done the unthinkable: he had abandoned the role of “Imperator Pope – Pope Who Makes No Mistakes.” As a “humble, simple man, Pope,” he was asking for help from the masses.
As he stated in his speech, the Reformist Pope did not want to walk this path alone. He believed that world problems and inequality would be solved with the understanding and effort of “us all”. Pope said that the world needed a revolution of mercy and said, “If each of us performs an act of mercy every day, a revolution will have taken place in the world.” The message Pope Francis used as a slogan in his speech to young people in Portugal in August 2023, “Everyone, everyone, everyone”, was the product of this perspective. He always advised the Church to embrace everyone.
The name he chose as his mission reflected his philosophy
Like his predecessors, Bergoglio had to select a name that mirrored his beliefs and character. He chose the name of St. Francis of Assisi, a symbol of his earthly mission. In doing so, he became the first Pope to adopt the name of the Assisi Saint, who opposed the wealth of the Papacy and the Catholic Church, the lavish lifestyle of priests funded by the people, and advocated a modest life and aid for the less fortunate. Like Francis, the humble Pope he aspired to be, Bergoglio preferred to be in the midst of poverty, the poor, and the oppressed.
After being elected Pope, he refused to move into the luxurious papal suite vacated by his predecessor. Instead, he would stay in a small room in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, where he had been staying during the council. On the night of his election, he refused to wear Benedict’s ostentatious red cloak and gold shawl when he was declared Pope. He stepped onto the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square in a simple white tunic. The day after his election, he walked to the modest guesthouse he had booked before the start of the conclave to collect his luggage and pay his bill. This attitude never changed during his pontificate. He did not appear publicly wearing ornate cloaks, gold crosses or red shoes. Instead of the elaborate rings worn by popes, he wore a plain silver ring with a cross except for special Vatican ceremonies. He made his own phone calls, avoided limousines and walked whenever possible. He turned the palace the popes used as their summer residence into a museum.
The papacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentine son of a family that had emigrated from Italy to Argentina during the Mussolini era, also began with developments that left a mark on history. In 2023, Pope Ratzinger resigned after corruption and Nazi accusations. A tradition that had been going on for 600 years was being broken, and for the first time, a new Pope was not being elected due to death. Other articles were added to these firsts. For the first time in nearly 1300 years, a Pope was being elected from the European continent. Francis was the first Pope from the American continent and the Jesuit order. He was the first Pope to take the name of Saint Francis, famous for his closeness to the poor who chose a simple and plain life.
The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope in March 2013 was a surprise. Most cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel to vote and sought a leader who could bring fresh perspectives after 35 years of little change under the almost seamless reigns of Pope John Paul II and Benedict. They surprised everyone by choosing Catholicism’s first Jesuit Pope, the first Latin American successor to Saint Peter, and the first leader from outside Europe in over a millennium.
Reformist intellectual
Francis had a clarity of thought that shaped every last aspect of his own life and ministry. He was determined to advance the power of the Vatican, which had been trying to take its place as the leading actor on the world stage for centuries, from the bottom up. Papa Francis was a true intellectual. He criticized global strategies made to gain power and interests and fearlessly voiced his views. He was sure of where he stood. His place was on the side of the oppressed and the oppressed. His place was on the side of the people, regardless of language, religion and ethnicity. In his first Urbi et Orbi Easter speech, he described capitalism as “greedy for easy profit”. He said natural resources were being exploited unjustly. He stated that the arms industry caused wars and that wars led to migrations and genocide. During this process, he was accusing Ukrainian President Zelensky of playing with global balances and disrupting the peace, accusing Israel, Canada and Turkey of committing genocide and criticizing NATO over the war that started in Ukraine. He was giving America a harsh warning for its immigration policy. He was transforming the leadership of the Catholic world, the Vatican, and the Church’s position, which had been in a closed box for centuries, into a rising, listened to and even feared power on a global scale.
Pope Francis’s most crucial issue was our warming planet. He argued that climate change needed to be urgently controlled and called on politicians to do so. He issued circulars and organized meetings regarding the climate crisis. As a trained chemist, he accepted science and opposed those who denied climate change as a scientist who established a relationship between science and religion. After being elected Pope, he did not side with those in power and authority who were getting rich off the people like St. Francis, whom he preferred, and advocated that Catholicism be “a poor Church for the poor.” He said that the difference in life between developed and underdeveloped countries in the global context must be eliminated. To this end, he visited the world’s poor countries and, from there, called on world leaders to end wars and the arms trade that caused them.
On his first visit outside of Rome after his election, in July 2013, he went to the small Italian island of Lampedusa off the coast of North Africa to meet with a growing number of migrants and refugees. While European governments sought ways to “send them back,” Francis spoke out against “global indifference.” He said that the migration and refugee problem was due to the power and interest strategies pursued by rich countries. He was calling on rich countries to spend their financial resources on the poor countries of the world instead of weapons and wars. Pope Francis was not only communicating with the poor, migrants and victims of war zones, but also in his daily life, he was chatting with waiters, women, bartenders, migrants, street artists and children on the streets of Rome as if he had known them for years, and reaching out to those in need. When he went to a bar or restaurant, he aimed not to eat or drink anything but to chat with people and make friends. He was far from arrogant; he lived like an ordinary person and communicated with the public like an ordinary person.
He was against the authority of the Church over private life and sexuality..
He also showed his identity in the area of sexuality. In a statement he made to the Jesuit order’s magazine Civilta’ Cattolica in September 2013, a few months after he took office, he opposed the obsessive imposition of teachings on themes such as abortion, homosexuality and birth control. “The greatest sins are not the sins of the body. The greatest sins are the soul’s pride, hatred, etc.” In July 2013, when he was returning from Brazil, where he made his first trip abroad as Pope, a journalist asked him about his stance on homosexuality. Francis’ answer was an answer to everyone, whether they believed in God or not: “If someone is gay and they are looking for God and they are well-intentioned, who am I to judge them?” With this answer, he also went down in history as the first Pope to use the word homosexual. He put his message that LGBT individuals should not be excluded from the Church into an official document at the end of 2023. He issued a document approving the blessing of “non-conformist” couples, such as those in homosexual relationships and those who had divorced and remarried, in the Church. On the other hand, he did not stray far from the classical teachings of the Catholic Church, especially on the subject of abortion. He said that abortion was murder and described doctors who performed abortions as “hired killers.”
Child abuse
He has repeatedly apologised for the sexual abuse and paedophilia scandals within the Church. He has dismissed or forced the resignations of clergy implicated in these scandals. He has introduced regulations requiring the reporting of sexual abuse cases. Francis promised to take the issue seriously and to employ victims of predatory priests in the Vatican commission he set up to eliminate abuse. Still, some soon resigned because they felt the Church was not ready to hand over control of its handling of such cases to a completely independent body.
Bridges built between religions
He also showed his differences in his relations with other Christian sects and different religions. He argued that “it is wrong to go to spread religion by carrying your faith as a flag in your hand, like the Crusades.” In January 2015, while commenting on the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, he said, “No one can harm, fight or kill others in the name of religion, in the name of God. What happened (in Paris) shocks us now, but let’s look at our history and how many wars we have fought in the name of religion! We have also sinned in this regard. But murder cannot be committed in the name of God; this is a deviation from religion.” In addition to his close relationship with the Greek Patriarch of Fener, Bartholomew, he also attached importance to getting closer to the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill. The two leaders met in Cuba in 2016. This meeting was of historical importance as it was the first time a Pope and a Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church had come together after nearly 1,000 years of separation. He also made history as the first Pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula when he went to the United Arab Emirates to attend the “Interfaith Meeting” conference in February 2019 as part of his efforts to develop dialogue with the Islamic religion.
There was a conflict between traditionalists and progressives in the Church. Pope Francis can also be interpreted as a continuation of the Second Vatican Council. While he fought against the conservative wing that resisted the innovations and reforms brought by the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965, he also tried to prevent this wing from causing a real division. He shook things up within the Vatican by establishing an advisory council consisting of a group of cardinals, opening the synod to civilians, including women, taking steps to reorganise the Vatican administration known as the “Roman Council”, introducing new legislation for investigations and transparency regarding the Vatican bank and economy, and appointing a woman to a ministerial position for the first time.
He was sometimes the target of the damaging attacks of traditionalists. Some argued that Pope Francis should not be accepted as Pope because the previous Pope, who had retired, was still alive. However, Bergaglio’s path was not formed by personal discussions and actions but by ideas and ideals. He wanted to make this journey together with the people. He continued his global humanitarian walk throughout his papacy, regardless of the polarization and conflicts in the Church. He believed that Catholicism was an essential force for doing good. He convinced many people to support him thanks to the strength of his personality, sincerity, modesty and warmth. His death also showed the whole world how valuable and permanent this philosophy of life was… Bergoglio, who entered the international scene as the leader of the Catholic world, Pope, passed away as a folk hero…
Those who go to his tomb in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Maggiore can see him and his soul in all their nakedness: a low beige tomb. A cross and a name without an adjective: Franciscus…
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, born 17 December 1936; died 21 April 2025
Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires. His father, Mario, and his parents had travelled to Argentina in 1929 from Portacomaro in Piedmont, northern Italy, wanting to escape a country swept up by the fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Mario married Regina Sivori in 1935. Jorge, the oldest of their five children, was born the following year.
The family spoke Spanish at their single-storey home, 531 Calle Membrillar, in Flores. Still, with his grandparents, who lived just around the corner in the Almagro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, the young Jorge learned Italian, or the Piedmontese dialect of their upbringing. His father worked for an accounting firm and, while the family was not poor, money was always tight. Jorge excelled in chemistry at school, though he later insisted he was never top of the class. Outside of this, he liked football (following a local team, San Lorenzo), tango, and girls. There was even a girlfriend, Amalia Damonte.
When he was 17, he attended mass in his local Church of San José de Flores and was so moved by the sermon of a visiting priest, Enrique Pozzoli, that he sought him out in the confessional. In the course of their exchange, he recalled later, he discovered his religious vocation.
He fell seriously ill at 21 with pneumonia, and doctors feared for his life. Three cysts were found on his right lung, and part of it was removed in a brutal operation. The brush with death strengthened his determination to become a priest, and he entered a Jesuit seminary soon afterwards.
By that stage, Bergoglio was 33 and had a philosophy degree from the Catholic University of Buenos Aires. He taught philosophy and literature before 1973, when he was elected Argentina’s youngest-ever provincial of the Jesuits.
His six years in charge overlapped with the military junta that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983, during which period between 15,000 and 30,000 Argentinians “disappeared” or were killed. Like the country’s Catholic Church, the Jesuits were divided on how to react to events. Both contained progressive elements opposed to the dictatorship and more conservative ones, including prominent military chaplains privy to human rights abuses.
Jorge Bergoglio, nominato cardinale da Papa Giovanni Paolo II nel 2001.