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- A Pope Named Francis
Never before March 13, 2013, had a newly-elected pope dared to choose the name Francis for his pontificate. So, when the newly elected pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, chose the name Francis, many people were very much struck by the new pope’s chosen name. For many, but especially for Italian Waldensians, the new pope’s choice of namesclearly recalled Francis of Assisi, whose story of conversion in the early 1200s was very similar to that of Waldo of Lyon, the initiator of the Waldensian movement in the late 1100s. Francis and Waldo shared a vision of a church that saw its calling as serving the humble and the excluded. If the path of Francis of Assisi and Waldo of Lyon was the same path that the new pope wanted to take, Italian Protestants could only share and support it.
The promise of the name ‘Francis’ was certainly realized in the twelve years of Francis’ ministry as pope. Nevertheless, even for the most sincere believers, one’s previous life history and culture of origin affect one’s ways of being a Christian. Pope Bergoglio had had a traditional education and, although he could not be defined as truly conservative, nor could he be fully understood as being just a progressive. On the ethical level, for example, he struggled to reconcile his traditional faith with his desire to be open to all God’s people. This struggle was evident in the way he approached such issues as the family, the interruption of pregnancy, homosexuality, and the end of life. In the same way, he never gave up the traditional pious language of Roman Catholicism. But both in his ethics and in his piety, he was always open to diversity and eager to identify shared values with all those with whom he came in contact.
In ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and in dialogue with non-believers, Pope Francis had an interpersonal sensitivity not at all reminiscent of the theologically polished style of Joseph Ratzinger, the pope who preceded him. Nor was Pope Francis an ecclesiastical leader with a strong political vision, like Karol Józef Wojtyla, the pope before Ratzinger. Instead he moved with the sensitivity of a pastor capable of listening and determined to open the doors and windows of a church that at times had seemed incapable of allowing itself to be renewed or of facing any challenge from outside its sacred precincts.
Francis was always going towards others and into their homes. He did not wait for others to come to him. He welcomed interaction and dialogue with people who were different than he was and even with people who contradicted him. He let mercy prevail over judgment, substance over form. He did all this with his quintessential “Latin” character, extroverted if sometimes shy, smiling, a person who loved to be and appear close instead of distant. Intolerant of the protocol imposed by his status as pope, he enjoyed surprise visits to churches, parishes, streets, private homes, such as recently at the home of the elderly radical leader Emma Bonino. Above all, Francis had a true and profound interest in the person in front of him, whose eyes he looked into seeking sincerity and friendship, without regard to cultural or religious borders.
What will remain of Francis’ ministry as pope? The answer depends a lot on the choice of his successor. The appointments of cardinals that he made, together with those of local bishops, were almost all – but not all because he made some concessions to the traditionalist wing of his church – aimed at supporting his vision of pastoral renewal. How much those appointments have truly affected the multifaceted and slow-to-change body of Roman Catholicism will be told by the result of the next conclave. What Francis tried to do required a longer pontificate than he was given and therefore today requires a successor with the will to follow in his footsteps.
Naturally, as an Italian Protestant, I can only hope that the Spirit blows strongly in the rooms where important decisions will be made, leaving open those doors and windows that Francis tried to unlock.
This reflection was written by Eugenio Bernadini, a former Moderator of the Italian Waldensian Church.