Francis (pope)

Jorge Mario Bergoglio stands in the 2nd row, 4th left, 1948

Born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936 in the family of an Italian emigrant, railway worker Mario Giuseppe Bergoglio and his wife Regina Maria Sivori.

The youngest of five children ^[5] . Received a diploma in chemical engineering.

He studied at the Villa Devoto Seminary in Buenos Aires.

Joined the Jesuit Order on March 11, 1958. Noviate passed in Chile (humanities), then continued his education at St. Joseph's College in Buenos Aires, where he received a degree in philosophy.

He taught literature, philosophy and theology at the three Catholic colleges of Buenos Aires. In addition to Spanish , fluent in Italian and German .

Pope Francis said that long before he felt the ability to convert people to the church, he worked as a bouncer in a nightclub in Argentina, as well as a janitor and laboratory assistant ^[6] .

Jesuit

December 13, 1969 was ordained a priest by Ramon Jose Castellano , titular archbishop of Iomnium . Appointed Professor of Theology at the College of San Miguel in the Argentinean capital. In the 1970s, he held various posts in the Jesuit Order of Argentina .

The leadership of the Jesuit Order, impressed by the leadership skills of Jorge Mario, eventually promoted Bergoglio, and in 1973-1979 he was a provincial of Argentina . In 1980, he was appointed rector of his alma mater , the seminary of St. Joseph. He held this position until 1986. Then in Germany he defended his doctoral dissertation and returned to his homeland as a confessor and spiritual director of the Cordoban Archdiocese, where Cardinal Raul Primatesta was his immediate supervisor.

Bishop

On May 20, 1992, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires with the title of titular bishop of Auki . He was consecrated bishop on June 27, 1992 at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, by Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Antonio Quarrasino . When it became clear that Cardinal Quarrasino would soon complete his official duties, on June 3, 1997, they appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires as coadjutor ( bishop with the right to inherit the diocese ).

He served well as Deputy Cardinal Quarrasino, and when he died on February 28, 1998, he succeeded him as the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires . On November 6, 1998, he was appointed the ordinarium of the Catholics of the Eastern Rite in Argentina , who did not have their own hierarch (including the mission of the Russian Catholics ^{[7] [8] [9]} ). Pope John Paul II elevated him to the Cardinals on the Consistory of February 21, 2001 in the Vatican . He received the title of the church of San Roberto Bellarmino .

Cardinal

As Cardinal Bergoglio was appointed immediately to several administrative posts in the Roman Curia . He was a member of the Congregation for the Clergy , the Congregation for Divine Services and the Discipline of the Sacraments , the Congregation for Institutes of the Consecrated Life, and Apostolic Life Societies . Bergoglio also became a member of the Commission on Latin America and the Pontifical Council for Family Affairs .

Cardinal Bergoglio was known for his personal modesty, doctrinal conservatism, and dedication to social justice. He led a very simple lifestyle, which made a certain contribution to his reputation. He lived in a small apartment, not much resembling the archbishop's palace, refused a personal limousine with a driver in favor of public transport, and, according to some reports, he prepared his own food.

On April 15, 2005, a human rights lawyer instituted criminal charges against Bergoglio, accusing him of conspiring with a junta in 1976, which had abducted two Jesuit priests. ^[10] On March 17, 2013, Argentinean judge Herman Castelli, who dealt with this case, was interviewed by La Nacion newspaper said that “ The allegations that (Pope) Jorge Bergoglio“ surrendered ”these priests are a complete lie. We all analyzed, listened to this version, looked at the obvious facts and came to the conclusion that his actions in those cases are not legal complicity. If it were otherwise, we would have declared it ” ^{[11] [12] [13]} .

Papabil

After the death of Pope John Paul II, Bergoglio was called to the Vatican to participate in the 2005 papal Conclave as a cardinal elector . Although Bergoglio was considered a papabil , the Conclave nevertheless elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope. However, the anonymous diary of a certain Cardinal participating in the Conclave, published in September 2005 ^[14] and whose authenticity has not been accurately established, shows that Bergoglio was Ratzinger’s main rival in the Conclave.

According to this document, Bergoglio received as many as 40 votes in the third ballot, but in the fourth round of the vote, which turned out to be decisive, his result was only 26 votes.

Even before the conclave, Cardinal Bergoglio participated in the funeral of John Paul II and acted as regent together with the College of Cardinals , administering the Papal throne and the Roman Catholic Church during the interregnum - Sede Vacante .

During the Synod of Bishops of 2005, he was elected a member of the postsynodal council. November 8, 2005 led the Episcopal Conference of Argentina for a three-year term (2005-2008).

The vast majority of Argentine bishops voted for him, which only confirmed his leadership in the country and the international prestige earned by participating in the Conclave .

At the 2013 conclave , convened after the abdication of Benedict XVI , he was also among the papabiles (among many other applicants) ^[15] and this time he was elected.

Pope

Elected by the pope on March 13, 2013, he took the name Francis ( lat. Franciscus ) in honor of St. Francis of Assisi ^[16] .

The use of this name is the first in the history of the papacy. Francis became the first pope to represent the Jesuit Order , as well as the first pope from the New World .

For his coat of arms, Francis chose the line “Miserando atque eligendo” ( Russian [with] merciful love or Russian pardoned and therefore chosen ) verses of chapter 9 of the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 9: 9-13 ) and of 21 Sermons of the Venerable Misfortune , which in turn explains it as follows: “ This means: Do not strive for earthly things, do not seek ephemeral benefits, avoid petty honors, willingly accept all the contempt of the world for the glory of heaven, be useful to everyone, love insults and do not give them to anyone, with patience to bear the grievances received, always a lawsuit the glory of the Creator and never - of his own. To live all these and other similar means to follow in the footsteps of Christ . " These words are of great importance for Francis, because when he was 17 years old in 1953, then after confession on the feast of St. Matthew, he felt the mercy of God in his life and felt a call to the priesthood ^{[17] [18]} .

The intronization of Pope Francis was carried out on March 19, 2013. He doesn’t start a Facebook account because of the cardinals ' experiences that he will receive too many insults. Negative comments on the Pope’s page on Twitter may not be noticed, unlike Facebook, said Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli , chairman of the papal council for social communications ^[19] .

On August 19, 2014, Pope Francis told reporters that he, like his predecessor, could abdicate due to health problems ^[20] .

In 2015, a reform was carried out under his leadership to simplify the process of invalidating a marriage.

On February 12, 2016, in Havana, Francis met with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill . A meeting of this level was the first in the history of the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches.

On April 8, 2016, the apostolic exhortation of Francis Amoris laetitia ( Latin: The Joy of Love ) was published, dedicated to questions of the family and its place in the modern world ^{[21] [22]} .

Francis also opposed the death penalty in August 2018. His position had a practical result: the governor of New York (4th state in terms of population in the USA) Andrew Cuomo, in solidarity with his pope, promised to submit a bill abolishing the death penalty in the state that same month ^[23] .

In the list of the most influential people in the world published by Forbes magazine, in 2018 he is in 6th place, although earlier, in 2014 and 2015, he was in 4th place in the rating ^[24] .

Theology of Liberation

Bergoglio is a skilled theologian who has distanced himself from the " theology of liberation " since the dawn of his career. Experts suggest that it is close to the conservative secular movement of Comunione e Liberazione .

Abortion and Euthanasia

Cardinal Bergoglio called on his clergy and laity to oppose abortion and euthanasia ^[25] .

Homosexuality

He strongly opposes legislation permitting same-sex marriage , introduced in 2010 by the Argentinean government. In a letter to the monasteries of Buenos Aires, he wrote: “Let's not be naive, we are not talking about a simple political struggle, these are destructive claims against the plan of God. We are not talking about a simple draft law, but rather about a fraud with the father of lies, which seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God. " He also insisted that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children. This triggered a response from Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner , who stated that the tone of the church resembled the Middle Ages and the Inquisition. ^[26]

In an interview in July 2013, Pope Francis said: “If a person is gay and has good will and longs for God, who am I to judge him?” Referring to the catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, he noted that gays "should not become marginalized, but should integrate into society." At the same time, the pontiff condemned the so-called "gay lobby" ^[27] .

However, despite the statements made, Pope Francis’s attitude continues to be ambivalent: for example, while condemning the “gay lobby”, he continues to support liberal archbishops who favor gay marriage ^[28] .

In June 2016, Pope Francis declared: "The Roman Catholic Church and ordinary Christians must apologize to gays for their previous attitude towards them." According to him, people of non-traditional sexual orientation deserve respect and should not be discriminated against ^{[29] [30]} .

Social Justice

Although Bergoglio has consistently preached compassion for the poor, some observers are disappointed that he does not give more emphasis to the problems of social justice. Without articulating a clear position on political economy, Bergoglio prefers to emphasize the importance of spirituality and holiness, believing that this will naturally lead to greater sympathy for the suffering of the poor. However, he expressed support for social programs and publicly expressed doubts about the fairness of free market policies.
In November 2014, Pope Francis authorized the installation of three free showers designed for the homeless in the center of the Vatican - in St. Peter's Square. Also, at the initiative of Francis, showers for the homeless are installed in church parishes throughout Rome ^[31] .

Statements about illegitimate children

Criticizing priests who refused to baptize illegitimate children , Cardinal Bergoglio claimed that unmarried mothers did the right thing by giving birth to a child and not having an abortion, and that the Church should not shun them ^{[32] [33] [34]} . He said: “There are some priests in our church district who do not want to baptize children of single mothers because these children were not conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are modern Pharisees . These are those who clericalize the church. Those who want to separate the people of God from salvation. And the poor girl, who, instead of returning the child to the sender, had the courage to bring him to the world, is forced to walk from parish to parish to baptize him! ” ^{[32] [33] [34]}

Cardinal Bergoglio was one of the first bishops in the world to respond to motu proprio Benedict XVI Summorum Pontificum by introducing a regular, traditional Latin Mass in Buenos Aires within just two days after the announcement of the papal motu proprio ^[35] .

On January 21, 2019, Pope Francis announced the launch of a special prayer site with the Pope Click to pray and related mobile applications. The pontiff personally presented the initiative with a tablet in his hands during the traditional Sunday sermon ^[36] .

A number of journalists and politicians ( Horatio Verbitski ^[37] , Henry Cyr ^{[38] [39]} , Julio Barbaro ^[40] ) have stated that Pope Francis is a supporter of the ideas of the Argentine dictator Juan Peron . Verbitsky also suggests that during his teaching career, Jorge Bergoglio was associated with the so-called Iron Guard (Guardia de Hierro) , an underground organization of orthodox Peronists whose goal was to bring the ousted president back to power.

As part of the promised management and anti-corruption reforms, in early October 2013 the Institute of Religious Affairs (Vatican Bank) published its first annual report in its entire history. In 2014, the leadership of the bank by the decree of the pontiff was replaced as part of the fight against corruption. In December 2015, Francis first appointed an external audit of the Vatican's consolidated financial statements ( PricewaterhouseCoopers ^{[41] was} chosen to carry out this work).

In addition to a unique meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill , Francis said that he attached great importance to the development of relations between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches ^[42] . Opera singer Svetlana Kasyan , who was present at a private audience with the Pontiff in October 2017, said that the pope “blessed Russia” ^{[43] [ significance of fact? ]} .

As of May 2019, he has made 29 pastoral ^{[44] [45]} visits outside Italy:

• Brazil (July 2013, XXVIII World Youth Day );
• Israel and Jordan (May 2014);
• South Korea (August 2014);
• Albania (September 2014);
• France (November 2014);
• Turkey (November 2014);
• Sri Lanka and the Philippines (January 2015);
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 6, 2015, Sarajevo ) ^[46] ;
• Ecuador , Bolivia and Paraguay (July 2015);
• Cuba , USA (September 2015);
• CAR , Kenya and Uganda (November 2015);
• Cuba , Mexico (February 2016);
• about. Lesbos , Greece (April 2016). The visit was devoted to the problem of refugees in Europe ^[47] ;
• Armenia (June 2016). The motto is “Visit to the first Christian country” ^[48] ;
• Poland (July 2016, World Youth Day ) ^[49] .
• Georgia and Azerbaijan (September 30 - October 2, 2016) ^[50] .
• Sweden (October 31 - November 1, 2016). The visit was dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation ^[51] .
• Egypt (April 28 - 29, 2017).
• Portugal , Fatima (May 12 - 13, 2017)
• Colombia (September 6 - 11, 2017)
• Myanmar and Bangladesh (November 27 - December 2, 2017)
• Chile and Peru (January 15 - 21, 2018)
• Switzerland (June 2018)
• Ireland (August 2018)
• Lithuania (September 22 - 23, 2018), Latvia (September 24, 2018), Estonia (September 25, 2018)
• Panama (January 2019, World Youth Day )
• UAE (February 2019)
• Morocco (March 2019)
• Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia (May 2019)

In September 2015, the pontiff visited the residence of the 89-year-old leader of the Cuban revolution in Havana : Fidel Castro , who in his last years did not often appear in public, talked with Pope Francis as part of his trip to Liberty Island ^[52] . After a visit to Cuba, the pope went to the United States.

At the Andrews airbase, the pontiff was personally met by US President Barack Obama . Later, the White House held an official ceremony of meeting the pontiff and his conversation with the president. First, US President Barack Obama spoke at the White House, who greeted the head of the Roman Catholic Church and noted that the United States, along with the pontiff, were "on the protection of religious freedom." In turn, Pope Francis in his speech noted the need to solve the problem of climate change: “Climate change is a problem that can no longer be left to future generations” ^[53] .

• Lumen Fidei (2013) - About Faith (with Pope Benedict XVI )
• Laudato si ' (2015) - on the problems of ecology and environmental protection

• Knight of the Order Chain of the National Order of the Condor of the Andes ( Ecuador , July 8, 2015 ) ^[54]
• Order of Merit of the “Father Luis Espinal Camps” ( Ecuador , July 8, 2015 )
• Charlemagne International Prize ( Germany , 2016)
• Order of the Smile ( Poland , 2016) ^[55] .

• He studied at the same school with the famous football player Alfredo Di Stefano ^[56] (1926-2014).
• He is a fan of the Argentinean football club San Lorenzo from Buenos Aires ^{[5] [57]} . In 2008, he became an official member of the fan club of the team named after St. Lawrence and created in 1908 with the support of the priest Lorenzo Massa. ^{[ significance of fact? ]}
• He refused to watch TV shows , in which he vowed the Virgin Mary in 1990.

• 2017 - Francis, Pope of the poor, Vatican of the rich / François, pape des pauvres, Vatican des riches (dir. Anthony Forestier / Anthony Forestier) - from the series “Portraits / Grands portraits”
• 2018 - Pope Francis. Man of the Word / Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (dir. Wim Wenders )

• The New Pope - RIA Novosti
• Pope Francis - RIA Novosti information
• Biography at catholic-hierarchy.org
• Pope Francis - Russian-language information service