Pope Francis’ journey from the streets of Flores, a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to the Vatican, is a outstanding story.
Born in 1936, Jorge Bergoglio was raised in a middle-class household of Italian Catholic immigrants.
Bergoglio defied his mom’s want for him to grow to be a medical physician and selected as a substitute to pursue priesthood, a calling he felt throughout confession. The younger man joined the Jesuits within the Fifties, interested in the order’s vow of poverty and its ethos of serving others and dwelling merely.
He grew to become a priest in 1969, Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and took on the papacy in 2013. As Pope Francis, his dedication to social justice was deeply rooted within the Latin American context.
The area’s historical past of inequality, poverty and political upheaval enormously influenced his perspective.
The younger Argentinian priest
Bergoglio, a faithful supporter of the San Lorenzo soccer staff, was additionally a assured tango dancer, mate drinker, and an unconditional admirer of his compatriot, Jorge Luis Borges, some of the influential writers of the twentieth century.
In 1965, the 2 males collaborated on the publication of quick tales written by Bergoglio’s literature college students. The scholars had been impressed by a seminar led by Borges, organised by the younger priest.
Bergoglio as a seminarian in 1966, as a instructor of literature and psychology at El Salvador College, Buenos Aires.
El Salvador College picture by way of AP
Borges thought extremely of Bergoglio, discovering him charming and clever. For Borges, Bergoglio was a Jesuit by way of and thru, noting the clerics of that order had been traditionally transgressive in addition to possessors of sense of humour.
Whereas Borges by no means noticed him reworked into Pope Francis, his observations one way or the other match with the respect Bergoglio earned as a worldwide chief.
Theology of the individuals
As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he lived modestly, typically taking public transport and dedicating himself to the poor and disenfranchised. He personally attended the wants of underprivileged neighbourhoods often called villas miseria (actually “misery towns”) in Argentine Spanish.
He was a vocal opponent to financial inequality. Through the 2001 Argentine financial disaster he advocated for the rights and dignity of impoverished residents.
Pope Francis hails from a area deeply influenced by the progressive actions of Catholic clergymen and nuns, who have been considerably impressed by liberation theology throughout the Sixties in Latin America.
Bergoglio, as Argentina’s Cardinal, provides a Mass exterior the San Cayetano church, Buenos Aires, in 2009.
Natacha Pisarenko/AP
Liberation theology developed in Latin America throughout the latter a part of the twentieth century, as a response to important political and theological transformations within the space. It believed in political liberation for the oppressed, impressed by the Cuban Revolution and Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII, each in 1959.
Whereas Francis didn’t totally subscribe to the tenets of liberation theology, a lot of his dedication to social justice aligns with its beliefs. Pope Francis’ social consciousness was deeply formed by the “theology of the people”.
Distinct to Argentina, and rising within the Sixties, the theology of the individuals shared liberation theology’s give attention to social justice, however is devoid of Marxist ideology, and emphasises the dignity and company of the marginalised and the impoverished.
Throughout Argentina’s dictatorial regime from 1976–83, Bergoglio led the Jesuits. However he didn’t undertake the extremely harmful stance of full opposition typical amongst liberation theologians elsewhere in Argentina and different elements of Latin America.
Commenting on Latin American affairs
In his early years because the Pope, he resonated with progressive Catholics throughout Latin America, due to his grounding in Argentinian theology and his give attention to social justice. However lately, his reputation in some Latin American nations declined.
In Argentina, this dip in enthusiasm is partly attributed to his resolution to not go to, regardless of travelling to neighbouring nations.
This 2015 picture exhibits followers ready for the arrival of Pope Francis to have fun Mass on the Samanes Park in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Fernando Vergara/AP
Extra profoundly, the decline doubtless stems from his fastened stance in opposition to contentious points corresponding to same-sex marriage and abortion. To the frustration of many Argentines and different Latin Americans, he refused to compromise.
All through his papacy, Pope Francis obtained all Argentine presidents – even those that have been beforehand crucial of him, corresponding to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
He maintained a powerful connection to his Buenos Aires roots and remained engaged with Argentina’s social and political panorama, typically commenting on conditions that provoke robust reactions from politicians.
He was a critic of insurance policies instituted by the present President of Argentina, Javier Milei, significantly Milei’s libertarian mannequin of financial system and the federal government’s brutal response to public dissent and opposition. In September 2024, the Pope famously stated:
the federal government put its foot down: as a substitute of paying for social justice, it paid for pepper spray.
Pope Francis meets Argentina’s President Javier Milei in St. Peter’s Basilica, February 2024.
EPA/Vatican Media Handout
Another mannequin of management
By reflecting on how Pope Francis’ theology is rooted within the Argentina he grew up in, we are able to higher perceive his actions as Pope.
He made important contributions within the Latin American area. He performed a mediating function between america and Cuba, supported the peace course of in Colombia, and highlighted the environmental devastation brought on by mining corporations within the Amazon.
Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez juggling a soccer ball for Pope Francis in Rome, 2022.
Andrew Medichini/AP
He publicly apologised to Indigenous peoples of Latin America for the Church’s historic complicity with colonialism, and acknowledged his inaction allowed the Chilean clergy to miss sexual abuse circumstances.
He appointed clergymen from non-European nations, enhancing illustration from Asia, Africa and Latin America and elevated the participation of girls throughout the Church’s management buildings.
His landmark encyclical, Laudato Si’, underscored the ethical crucial to handle local weather change, inspiring accolades from international leaders. His critique of Israel and the battle in Gaza underscored his constant opposition to struggle and advocacy for peace.
Regardless of current tensions and contradictions inside his papacy – significantly concerning the Church’s stance on LGBTQIA+ points and girls’s rights – Pope Francis’s method to international points remained steadfast and aligned together with his core values, and the Buenos Aires he got here of age in.
Devoted pray on the Basilica of San Jose de las Flores, Buenos Aires after studying of the demise of Pope Francis.
Stringer/EPA
Francis’s management is a product of his upbringing and a catalyst for regional and international dialogue on social justice.
The profound affect of the Latin American area on him is nicely captured by very long time pal, Uruguayan lawyer and activist, Guzman Carriquiry who described the Pope as:
Priest, and profoundly priest; Jesuit and profoundly Jesuit; Latin American, and profoundly Latin American.
