Pope Francis (Pastor of Mercy) (4 page)
Pope John Paul II made the appointment at the advice of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, because of Bergoglio’s intelligence and reputation as a wise spiritual director. Bergoglio was consecrated a bishop on June 27, 1992, and made titular bishop of Auca. He took for his motto the same he would use as pope: miserando atque eligendo (seeing through the eyes of mercy, he chose him).
Bishop Bergoglio’s first assignment as auxiliary bishop was as pastoral vicar to his home district of Flores in Buenos Aires. He was responsible for pastoral oversight of the area. The following year, in 1993, he was appointed vicar general of the archdiocese. In this role he was responsible under the cardinal for its daily administration. Scripture tells us, “My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find mercy in the sight of God” (Sirach 3:17-18). Bishop Bergoglio kept the lowest profile of the auxiliary bishops in the archdiocese and he was often seen engaged in humble pastoral work among young people and the poorest of the poor. He was often found serving in the slums of the city. He appealed to many groups of people, including University students in Flores that sought him out for advice, confession, and spiritual direction.
Several years later, Cardinal Quarracino’s health declined such that he asked Rome for a coadjutor archbishop to be appointed to succeed him after his time. Bergoglio recalls, “on May 27, 1997, Calabresi called and asked me to lunch with him. We were drinking coffee, and I was all set to thank him for the meal and take my leave when I noticed that a cake and a bottle of champagne had been brought in. I thought it must be his birthday, and I was just about to offer my best wishes. But the surprise came when I asked him about it. ‘No, it’s not my birthday,’ he replied, grinning broadly. ‘It so happens that you are the new coadjutor bishop of Buenos Aires’” (from Ch. 12 of Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio). To the surprise of many, Cardinal Quarracino had recommended Bergoglio as his successor. Realizing he was destined to become the spiritual head of 2.5 million souls, Archbishop Bergoglio continued to humble himself, taking public transportation and often getting around by bicycle.
Bergoglio’s first major event as coadjutor archbishop was the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in November 1997. The document “Encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity in America” was produced at the event. It was Archbishop Bergoglio’s first experience of the Vatican from the inside and it increased his appreciation of the universal Church. Within several months, on February 28, 1998, Cardinal Quarracino died and Archbishop Bergoglio assumed full jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. Having Father Jorge as archbishop would be an experience indeed for the faithful of Buenos Aires.
Archbishop Bergoglio refused the episcopal palace, taking residence in a small upper apartment in a diocesan building next door to the cathedral. He also refused the grand office reserved for the archbishop, fearing it would be too imposing and far-removed for visitors. He used that office for storage, taking a smaller and more welcoming one instead. Archbishop Bergoglio also refused to hire a cook, choosing instead to cook his own meals as his mother had taught him so many years ago. He also prepared meals for his guests and joked about his cooking, “Well, no one ever died...” (from Ch. 1 of Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio). Average porteños were surprised and delighted to come across the new archbishop in the city striking up casual conversations with the people on the bus or subway dressed like an ordinary priest and insisting that they call him ‘Father Jorge.’
Archbishop Bergoglio took his responsibility to his priests seriously. He wanted to remain approachable to them, so he designated one phone line and a one-hour period in the early morning that allowed for any priest to call him directly to talk about anything they needed without ever going through a secretary. He would also remain for long hours at the bedside of priests who were seriously ill or dying. Archbishop Bergoglio, recalling his days as a seminary professor, remained close to the seminarians of the archdiocese, such that certain classes of seminarians in Buenos Aires have even become known as the ‘Bergoglio generation.’
Archbishop Bergoglio did not forget the poor, but promoted a perception of the Church as close and near to the marginalized by his words and actions. He continued to go into the homes of the people in the slums and eat simple meals with them. He also personally supported and encouraged other priests to work in the slums, increasing their numbers in the slums greatly. Further, he established a diocesan vicariate, ‘Priests for the Favelas,’ to organize and support the priests in their ministry. He met periodically to offer support to families who had missing family members because of the kidnappings that took place in the Dirty War; they were known as the ‘desaparecidos.’
Father Facundo, a priest that was once one of only six priests working in the favelas, said, “Now there are twenty-four of us because he supports us personally and comes to work in the middle of the street with us. He celebrates Masses for the prostitutes in the Plaza Constitutión, visits the AIDS patients, and also keeps in contact with the families of the desaparecidos, always hoping that at least the truth will set us free” (from Ch. 8 of Francis: Pope of a New World by Andrea Tornielli).
The priests in the favelas have changed lives one person at a time. Miriam, who was at one point of her life a very desperate woman, is one of their success stories. Tornielli, shares Miriam’s reflection, “I thought there was no more salvation for me. But in the streets I kept meeting the priest, who would tell me, ‘God loves you.’ Now I work as a catechism teacher and want to become a therapy aide for drug addicts who want to be cured.” Archbishop Bergoglio believed that personal contact in the places where people spend their time is a good practice for reaching the inhabitants of the favelas and for touching everyone else. Bergoglio recalls, “I once suggested to the priests that we rent out a garage, and if we find a willing layperson, we send him there to spend time with people, give religious instruction, and even give Communion to the sick or those who are willing. A parish priest told me that if we did that, the believers wouldn’t come to Mass anymore. ‘Is that so!’ I exclaimed. ‘Do you mean to say that you have so many coming to Mass at the moment?’” (as quoted in Ch. 7 of Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio).
Pope John Paul II made Bergoglio a cardinal in 2001, a rank that required a greater level of solicitude for the universal Church from the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Friends and supporters planned to go to Rome to support him in receiving the red beretta, but Bergoglio asked them to spare the expense, stay in Argentina, and donate their travel-money to the poor. Living out the Church’s preferential option for the poor, Cardinal Bergoglio gave the best of his time to the marginalized. On Christmas Day, he never failed to cook for the people of the favelas of Buenos Aires, and he celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper during Holy Week in 2008 with young drug rehabilitation patients, washing their feet.
Believing very much that the Church needs to be a place of welcome for both saints and sinners, it distressed Cardinal Bergoglio that some priests refused to baptize the babies of unwed mothers. He insisted that the child was not at fault and that the mothers should be shown mercy, congratulated for choosing life, and offered support. He was saddened that these mothers were not welcomed and forced to go from church to church to find a priest who would agree to do the baptism.
Once in 2004, a mother came to him who had seven children from two different men and never had them baptized because it was too expensive to have all the godparents present. Cardinal Bergoglio offered to baptize the children in his chapel after some brief faith instruction and offered to proceed with the baptism with only two godparents who stood in as proxies for the others. Afterwards, he shared sandwiches and soft drinks to celebrate. The mother was not used to being so welcomed in church, and Bergoglio recalls her saying, “‘Father, I can’t believe it, you make me feel important.’ I replied, ‘But lady, where do I come in, it’s Jesus who makes you important’” (see Ch. 8 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson for more on Cardinal Bergoglio’s pastoral style).
In 2001, the Argentine economy came to a screeching halt. While the junta had come to an end in 1983, their structures of control left the country in staggering debt. Furthermore, while democratic elections were restored, demagogues often swayed the voters, making promises impossible to keep and often causing much damage. When world markets plunged in 2001, Argentina was unable to pay its debts and the economy was devastated. Inflation soared 5000%, unemployment jumped to near 18%, and the poverty rate rocketed to near 50%. Average government employees were given a steep pay cut, while as many as 500,000 of its higher-paid employees were not paid at all. Also, while some tried to salvage their savings by sending their money abroad, the bank accounts in Argentina were soon frozen by the government and only allowed small withdrawals.
Argentines took to the streets with increasing vigor to protest government policies and vent their frustrations, and often received harsh treatment from the police. Violence broke out, and several people lost their lives. President De la Rúa was forced to resign amid the protests, but the Argentines did not really trust any of the alternative politicians. One in five ballots in the presidential election was cast as an ‘anger ballot’, a cast without indicating a choice.
In the midst of the crisis, Cardinal Bergoglio, promoting a culture of cooperation, emerged as one of the few leaders able to unite the nation (see Ch. 8 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson for more on Bergoglio’s actions during this time). The people saw him as a credible voice that looked out for the poor and the middle class. He denounced police brutality against the protesters and urged the protesters to stop the violence. Once, when seeing a woman outside his residence unjustly beaten during the protest, he contacted a high-ranking officer and told the officer what was going on and asked him to stop it. He cautioned against the unrealistic promises of politicians and also warned about exploitive influences from abroad. Cardinal Bergoglio also denounced any proposed solutions that compromised the poor. He told the people that the real way to effect change is to change oneself. Argentina had become a nation too long divided. The country lacked solidarity and trust, and Cardinal Bergoglio recognized the situation as a spiritual problem in need of a spiritual solution.
In 2003, Néstor Kirchner, a highly charismatic figure, became president after a succession of two other short presidencies during the crisis. Cardinal Bergoglio denounced Kirchner’s economic policies because they exploited the poor. Further, the Kirchner government’s official economic numbers were likely manipulated in his favor, failing to do justice to the real situation facing the average Argentine. In response, Cardinal Bergoglio had the archdiocese collect its own statistics on inflation and unemployment in Argentina. Kirchner, in turn, lashed out against the Cardinal, calling him the “leader of the opposition.” The president decided to make other plans for the annual commemoration of the May Revolution, a day when the president traditionally attends the Te Deum service with the archbishop at the cathedral.
Kirchner finished his term in 2007, and his wife Christina Fernández de Kirchner was elected president after him. Néstor Kirchner died in 2008, and Cardinal Bergoglio mourned his death. Christina de Kirchner sought to bring social change that had already come to many other countries by introducing abortion and same-sex marriage to Argentina. While abortion is prohibited by the Argentine constitution, Christina de Kirchner, backed by the Supreme Court, broadly expanded the exceptions allowed by law. She was also successful in enacting legislation allowing same-sex marriage. Cardinal Bergoglio, preaching as usual on matters of national importance from his pulpit in the beautiful Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, strongly denounced both moves. He insisted that protecting the unborn child in all cases from abortion is necessary to secure an absolute value of human rights. He believed that if one is permitted to kill an unborn child in some cases, then human rights could be taken away in ‘special’ circumstances as well.
A document overseen by Cardinal Bergoglio at the General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops Conferences, states the following about abortion: “If we want to maintain a solid and inviolable basis for human rights, we absolutely must recognize that human life must always be defended from the very moment of conception. Otherwise, the circumstances and conveniences of the powerful will always find excuses for abusing persons.” In an interfaith dialogue, recorded in the book “On Heaven and Earth”, with his friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Cardinal Bergoglio shares more thoughts on abortion: “The moral problem with abortion is of a pre-religious nature because the genetic code of the person is present at the moment of conception. There is already a human being. I separate the issue of abortion from any religious concept.... The right to life is the first human right. Abortion is killing someone who cannot defend himself.”
Cardinal Bergoglio also believes that same-sex marriage is a serious step in the wrong direction. Bergoglio told Rabbi Skorka that same-sex marriage is an “‘anthropologic regression,’ a weakening of the institution that is thousands of years old and that was forged according to nature and anthropology.” Cardinal Bergoglio also insisted that same-sex marriage be disallowed since children deserve a male father and a female mother. He preached from the cathedral pulpit, “Let us not be naive: it is not a simple political struggle; it is an intention [which is] destructive of the plan of God. It is not a mere legislative project (this is a mere instrument), but rather a ‘move’ of the Father of Lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God” (as quoted in Ch. 8 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson). To Bergoglio’s point, Christina de Kirchner responded with a full-page newspaper ad accusing the Cardinal of staying in the Dark Ages.
