On a bright spring day in March 2013, a few weeks after Pope Benedict had resigned for health reasons, news came that a new pope had been elected. His name was Bergoglio, and he was from…Argentina? My colleagues and I in the Theology Department immediately scoured the internet for information about him. In the background, we could hear St. John Vianney Seminary students running through the quad, some carrying Vatican flags, telling the campus the news. “We have a Pope!” they joyfully shouted. “Habemus Papam!” We didn’t know anything about Jorge Mario Bergoglio. We did know that while all popes are standard bears and indeed symbols of the Catholic Church, each pope was a person with interests, loves, and, well, a distinct personality. These characteristics would influence the living out of his responsibilities and indeed be the public face of the Church for years to come. So, who was Bergoglia?
We got a sense of who he was by his actions that day. He took a simple car, not a limousine. He carried his own bag. He chose to live in a modest house. He had a smile and made a joke. And, he took the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), the saint famous for his love for the poor and living a life of chosen poverty as he served God, the Church, and the world. Pope John Paul II years before named St. Francis patron saint of ecology. St. Francis was known as a peacemaker. Taking this name gave us a sense of Bergoglio’s vision.
A few months later, a lengthy interview of the newly named Pope Francis appeared in America Magazine (and other Catholic publications around the world). The interviewer’s first question to the pope was: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” The interviewer wrote, “The pope stares at me in silence. I ask him if this is a question that I am allowed to ask … He nods that it is, and he tells me: ‘I do not know what might be the most fitting description … I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.’” Striking words from the leader of the Catholic Church – “I am a sinner!” He introduced himself as someone more worried about his failings than the failings of others. He was telling us that he was like us, that was one who understands.
As the tributes continue to roll in and Francis’ life is recounted in stories, I am most struck by the pictures. To me they capture how he lived two sayings from his Jesuit heritage: “Be a person for others” and “Find God in all things.” We see him kissing the feet of young prisoners; hugging the deformed man; holding children and babies; eating dinner with homeless people; praying in a bombed out Church; sitting with Muslim clerics; talking to migrants; and the stark, emotional, photo of him alone on Good Friday 2020, during COVID-19 pandemic, in St. Peter’s Square praying. A striking feature of the tributes is that they come from all corners of society. Many non-Catholics felt that Francis was their pope too.
Pope Francis has influenced the University of St. Thomas community on at least three levels. First, over the years, countless St. Thomas students, faculty, and staff have visited and studied in Rome. They have participated in Masses with him, have attended his Wednesday audiences, have stood in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday noon Angelus, and on occasion, have been able to meet him in person. Each can recall the feeling of being in his presence, even in a large crowd.
Second, it is not an exaggeration to say that thousands of St. Thomas students have been exposed to his thinking in classes, including classes beyond the Theology Department. Programs for faculty and staff run by the Office for Mission routinely use his writings for reflections. We had two such programs in Lent. His writings, particularly on human dignity, social fraternity, and ecology and the theological grounding of those ideas have been standard elements of classes and discussion groups.
Third, his theology has influenced the culture of our university. Francis’ theology of ecology has informed our consciousness about our place in creation and has motivated us to see the world as our common home. Our sustainability projects as well as our focus on the types of buildings we build are examples of this. Moreover, we have, as an institution, embraced Francis’ call for a culture of encounter. In his public message on the death of the Pope, St. Thomas President Rob Vischer said: As we mourn “the passing of Pope Francis, and we redouble our commitment to steward his legacy in our world by building a ‘culture of encounter’ on our campus and beyond.”
In his final address, his Easter message, Francis wrote, “Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood. Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge. Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand; it no longer has power over those who accept the grace of this day.” Let us accept the grace of his life and live it this day.
Bernie Brady is a professor of theology, director of the Murray Institute for Catholic Education, and an associate director in the Office for Mission at the University of St.Thomas, the largest private university in Minnesota.
