A Jesuit priest from South America becomes pope and takes the name of St. Francis!

“Nora!  Why do you think they keep ringing the bells in the cathedral?”  That’s when I knew a new pope had been chosen.  All afternoon I was running up and down the stairs of the office trying to listen to newscasts in both English and Spanish about who the next pope would be.  There was suspense in the air, trying to win the competition of who would be the first to find out which cardinal was elected and if he would be from South America or not. 

As Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio walked out, I watched, waiting to figure out who he was and what he would say.  When he bowed asking for a blessing from the people, whom he would be serving, before giving them his blessing, I had a good feeling.  When we found out he chose the name Francis after Francis of Assisi, the good feeling grew.  When I heard from the news commentators that he was a Jesuit, my hope grew more.  Having served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp, I came to appreciate greatly the values of Simplicity, Community, Prayer, and Service. 

I’ve always said that Francis of Asisi and Ignatius of Loyola were very similar, despite what each of their orders say about the other in jest.  They both came from the upper classes, both were soldiers and suffered physically from battle, and while recovering had major conversions, recognizing what made life meaningful and recognizing God in other people.  Two people who really lived out what it means to love and to serve, and these same two people are clearly significant to Cardinal Bergoglio, and that type of deep respect and appreciation doesn’t happen all that often, so I was really surprised.

To be fair, I should not judge what kind of a leader Pope Francis will be based on his past.  As a Christian Brother commented to me the other day, none of us like to be judged based on our past, rather given an opportunity in the present, free of judgment.  I don’t know what Pope Francis will do, whether he will continue to maintain his habits of simplicity (taking public transportation to work, even as a cardinal; cooking his own meals), but the fact that we both share an affinity for the values and way of life of Saints Ignatius and Francis, I am very hopeful he will continue to follow Jesus’ example and teachings, using Ignatius and Francis as constant examples and inspirations to follow.

Of course it was exciting for almost everybody here in Cochabamba, Bolivia that someone from a neighboring country was named pope, that in itself is a pretty big deal.  The Catholic Church, which is made up of individual people, is extremely diverse, and it’s nice to see someone in the leadership role who is from the southern hemisphere, where so many of those individual people have lived their lives.

Yet, I’ve also heard negative commentaries in the news, mostly from people in Argentina, who say he didn’t support them when they needed support.  The Argentinian president and homosexual community have also criticized him.  I’m not sure what has happened in his life before now, but I do hope very much that he be a leader who holds true to serving the marginalized, loving and not hating, seeking peace where there is conflict, and respecting the environment in its entirety.