Pope Francis

Papa Francisco redirects here. For the sports club, seeClub Deportivo Papa Francisco.

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco;born Jorge Mario Bergoglio,[lower-alpha 2] 17 December1936) is Pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds exocio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the VaticanCity.Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio workedbriey as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncerbefore beginning seminary studies. He was ordained aCatholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Ar-gentinas provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. Hewas accused of handing two priests to the National Reor-ganization Process during the Dirty War, but the lawsuitwas ultimately dismissed. He became the Archbishop ofBuenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church duringthe December 2001 riots in Argentina, and the admin-istrations of Nstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernndez deKirchner considered him a political rival. Following theresignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013,a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor ofSaint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the rst Jesuit pope,the rst from the Americas, the rst from the SouthernHemisphere and the rst non-European pope since theSyrian Gregory III in 741.Throughout his public life, Pope Francis has been notedfor his humility, his concern for the poor and his com-mitment to interfaith dialogue. He is known for hav-ing a humble approach to the papacy, less formal thanhis predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in theDomus SanctaeMarthae guesthouse rather than the papalapartments of the Apostolic Palace used by his prede-cessors. In addition, due to both his Jesuit and Ignatianaesthetic, he is known for favoring simpler vestmentsvoid of ornamentation, including refusing the traditionalpapal mozzetta cape upon his election, choosing silver in-stead of gold for his piscatory ring, and keeping the samepectoral cross he had when he was cardinal. Hemaintainsthat the Church should be more open and welcoming. Al-though he considers poverty a huge problem, he does notsupport unbridled capitalism, Marxism or Marxist ver-sions of liberation theology. The media considers hima progressive papal reformer, with a less-doctrinal toneof papacy. Francis maintains the traditional views of thechurch over homosexual actions, abortion, ordination ofwomen and priest celibacy. In international diplomacy,

he helped to restore full diplomatic relations between theU.S. and Cuba.

1 Personal life

Jorge Mario Bergoglio (fourth boy from the left on the third rowfrom the top) at age 12, while studying at the Salesian College.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17 December 1936in Flores,[2] a barrio of Buenos Aires. He was theeldest[3] of ve children of Mario Jos Bergoglio, anItalian immigrant accountant[4] born in Portacomaro(Province of Asti) in Italys Piedmont region, and hiswife Regina Mara Svori,[5] a housewife born in BuenosAires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.[6][7][8][9][10] Mario Jos's family left Italyin 1929, to escape the fascist regime of Benito Mus-solini.[11] Mara Elena Bergoglio, the Popes only livingsibling, conrmed that their emigration was not causedby economic reasons.[12] His other siblings were Al-berto Horacio, Oscar Adrin and Marta Regina.[13] Twogreat-nephews, Antonio and Joseph, died in a traccollision.[14][15]

In the sixth grade, Bergoglio attended Wilfrid Barn delos Santos ngeles, a school of the Salesians of DonBosco, in Ramos Meja, Buenos Aires. He attendedthe technical secondary school Escuela Tcnica IndustrialN 27 Hiplito Yrigoyen,[16] named after a past Presi-dent of Argentina, and graduated with a chemical tech-nicians diploma.[17][18] He worked for a few years inthat capacity in the foods section at Hickethier-BachmannLaboratory[19] where his boss was Esther Ballestrino.Before joining the Jesuits, Bergoglio worked as a barbouncer and as a janitor sweeping oors, and he also rantests in a chemical laboratory.[20][21]

1

2 2 PRE-PAPAL CAREER

In the only known health crisis of his youth, at theage of 21 he suered from life-threatening pneumoniaand three cysts. He had part of a lung excised shortlyafterwards.[16][22] Bergoglio has been a lifelong sup-porter of the San Lorenzo de Almagro football club.[23]Bergoglio is also a fan of the lms of Tita Merello,[24]neorealism and tango dancing, with an intense fond-ness for the traditional music of Argentina and Uruguayknown as the milonga.[24]

2 Pre-papal career

2.1 JesuitBergoglio studied at the archdiocesan seminary,Inmaculada Concepcin Seminary, in Villa Devoto,Buenos Aires, and, after three years, entered the Societyof Jesus as a novice on 11 March 1958.[24] Bergoglio hassaid that, as a young seminarian, he had a crush on a girlhe met and briey doubted about continuing the religiouscareer.[27] As a Jesuit novice he studied humanities inSantiago, Chile.[28] At the conclusion of his novitiatein the Society of Jesus, Bergoglio ocially became aJesuit on 12 March 1960, when he made the religiousprofession of the initial, perpetual vows of poverty,chastity and obedience of a member of the order.[29][30]

In 1960, Bergoglio obtained a licentiate in philoso-phy from the Colegio Mximo de San Jos in SanMiguel, Buenos Aires Province. He taught literature andpsychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcin,a high school in Santa Fe, from 1964 to 1965. In 1966he taught the same courses at the Colegio del Salvadorin Buenos Aires.[31] In 1967, Bergoglio nished his the-ological studies and was ordained to the priesthood on13 December 1969, by Archbishop Ramn Jos Castel-lano. He attended the Facultades de Filosofa y Teologade San Miguel (Philosophical and Theological Faculty ofSan Miguel), a seminary in San Miguel. He served as themaster of novices for the province there and became aprofessor of theology.[32]

Bergoglio completed his nal stage of spiritual trainingas a Jesuit, tertianship, at Alcal de Henares, Spain. Hetook the nal fourth vow (obedience to the pope) in theSociety of Jesus on 22 April 1973, which added to theprevious three.[30] He was named provincial superior ofthe Society of Jesus in Argentina on 31 July 1973 andserved until 1979.[33] He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalemin 1973, shortly after being named provincial superior,but his stay was shortened by the outbreak of the YomKippur War.[34] After the completion of his term of of-ce, in 1980 he was named the rector of the Philosophicaland Theological Faculty of San Miguel in San Miguel.[35]Before taking up this new appointment, he spent the rstthree months of 1980 in Ireland to learn English, stayingat the Jesuit Centre at the Milltown Institute of Theologyand Philosophy, Dublin.[36] After returning to Argentina

to take up his new post at San Miguel, Father Bergoglioserved in that capacity until 1986. He was removed asrector by the Jesuit superior-general, Hans Kolvenbach,because Bergoglios policy of educating the young Jesuitsin direct pastoral work and in popular religiosity was op-posed to the world-wide trend in the Society of Jesus ofemphasizing social justice based on sociological analy-sis, especially promoted by the Centro de Investigacionesy Accion Social (CIAS).[37]

He spent several months at the Sankt Georgen GraduateSchool of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Ger-many, while considering possible dissertation topics,[38]before returning to Argentina to serve as a confessor andspiritual director to the Jesuit community in Crdoba.[39]In Germany, he saw the painting Mary Untier of Knotsin Augsburg and brought a copy of the painting to Ar-gentina where it has become an important Marian devo-tion.[40][lower-alpha 3] As a student at the Salesian school,Bergoglio was mentored by Ukrainian Greek Catholicpriest Stefan Czmil. Bergoglio often rose hours beforehis classmates to serve Mass for Czmil.[43][44]

Because of continued tensions with followers of the Cen-tro de Investigaciones y Accion Social (CIAS) and of hiswork as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio wasasked by Jesuit authorities not to reside in the Jesuit housein 1992. From then on, he did not visit Jesuit houses untilafter his election as Pope.[37]

2.2 BishopBergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Airesin 1992 and ordained on 27 June 1992 as TitularBishop of Auca,[45] with Cardinal Antonio Quarra-cino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving as princi-pal consecrator.[25] He chose as his episcopal mottoMiserando atque eligendo.[46] It is drawn from SaintBede's homily on Matthew 9:913: because he saw himthrough the eyes of mercy and chose him.[47]

On 3 June 1997, Bergoglio was appointed CoadjutorArchbishop of Buenos Aires with right of automaticsuccession.[26] Upon Quarracinos death on 28 Febru-ary 1998, Bergoglio became Metropolitan Archbishopof Buenos Aires. In that role, Bergoglio created newparishes and restructured the archdiocese administrativeoces, led pro-life initiatives, and created a commissionon divorces.[48] One of Bergoglios major initiatives asarchbishop was to increase the Churchs presence in theslums of Buenos Aires. Under his leadership, the numberof priests assigned to work in the slums doubled.[49] Thiswork led to him being called the Slum Bishop.[50]

Early in his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires,Bergoglio sold o the archdioceses shares in multiplebanks and turned its accounts into those of a normal cus-tomer in international banks. The shares in banks had ledthe local church to a high leniency towards high spending,and the archdiocese was nearing bankruptcy as a result.

2.3 Cardinal 3

As a normal customer of the bank, the church was forcedinto a higher scal discipline.[51]

On 6 November 1998, while remaining Archbishop ofBuenos Aires, he was named ordinary for those EasternCatholics in Argentina who lacked a prelate of their ownrite.[25] Archbishop Shevchuk has said that Bergoglio un-derstands the liturgy, rites, and spirituality of his GreekCatholic Church and always took care of our Church inArgentina as ordinary for Eastern Catholics during histime as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.[44]

In 2000, Bergoglio was the only church ocial to rec-oncile with Jernimo Podest, a former bishop whohad been suspended as a priest after opposing theArgentine Revolution military dictatorship in 1972. Hedefended Podest's wife from Vatican attacks on theirmarriage.[52][53][54] That same year, Bergoglio said theArgentine Catholic Church needed to put on garments ofpublic penance for the sins committed during the years ofthe dictatorship in the 1970s, during the Dirty War.[55]

Bergoglio made it his custom to celebrate the Holy Thurs-day ritual washing of feet in places such as jails, hospitals,retirement homes or slums.[56] In 2007, just two days af-ter Benedict XVI issued new rules for using the liturgicalforms that preceded the Second Vatican Council, Cardi-nal Bergoglio was one of the rst bishops in the worldto respond by instituting a Tridentine Mass in BuenosAires.[57][58] It was celebrated weekly.[59]

On 8 November 2005, Bergoglio was elected president ofthe Argentine Episcopal Conference for a three-year term(200508).[60] He was reelected to another three-yearterm on 11 November 2008.[61] He remained a memberof that Commissions permanent governing body, presi-dent of its committee for the Pontical Catholic Univer-sity of Argentina, and a member of its liturgy committeefor the care of shrines.[25] While head of the ArgentineCatholic bishops conference, Bergoglio issued a collec-tive apology for his churchs failure to protect people fromthe Junta during the Dirty War.[62] When he turned 75 inDecember 2011, Bergoglio submitted his resignation asArchbishop of Buenos Aires to Pope Benedict XVI asrequired by canon law.[34] Still, as he had no coadjutorarchbishop, he stayed in oce, waiting for an eventualreplacement appointed by the Vatican.[63]

2.3 CardinalAt the consistory of 21 February 2001, ArchbishopBergoglio was created a cardinal by Pope John PaulII with the title of cardinal-priest of San Roberto Bel-larmino, a church served by Jesuits and named for one.When he traveled to Rome for the ceremony, he and hissister Mara Elena visited the village in northern Italywhere their father was born.[12] As cardinal, Bergogliowas appointed to ve administrative positions in theRoman Curia. He was member of the Congregation forDivine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,

the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation forInstitutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apos-tolic Life, the Pontical Council for the Family and theCommission for Latin America. Later that year, whenCardinal Edward Egan returned to New York follow-ing the September 11 attacks, Bergoglio replaced himas relator (recording secretary) in the Synod of Bish-ops,[64] and, according to the Catholic Herald, created afavourable impression as a man open to communion anddialogue.[65][66]

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in 2008

Cardinal Bergoglio became known for personal humility,doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social jus-tice.[67] A simple lifestyle contributed to his reputationfor humility. He lived in a small apartment, rather than inthe elegant bishops residence in the suburb of Olivos. Hetook public transportation and cooked his own meals.[68]He limited his time in Rome to lightning visits.[69] Hewas known to be devoted to St. Therese of Lisieux, andhe enclosed a small picture of her in the letters he wrote,calling her a great missionary saint.[70]

After Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, Bergoglioattended his funeral and was considered one of thepapabile for succession to the papacy.[71] He participatedas a cardinal elector in the 2005 papal conclave thatelected Pope Benedict XVI. In the National Catholic Re-porter, John L. Allen, Jr. reported that Bergoglio wasa frontrunner in the 2005 conclave.[67][72] In September2005, the Italian magazine Limes published claims thatBergoglio had been the runner-up and main challengerto Cardinal Ratzinger at that conclave and that he hadreceived 40 votes in the third ballot, but fell back to 26at the fourth and decisive ballot.[73][74] The claims werebased on a diary purportedly belonging to an anonymous

4 3 RELATIONS WITH ARGENTINE GOVERNMENTS

cardinal who had been present at the conclave.[73][75] Ac-cording to Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, this num-ber of votes had no precedents for a Latin Americanpapabile.[75] La Stampa reported that Bergoglio was inclose contention with Ratzinger during the election, un-til he made an emotional plea that the cardinals shouldnot vote for him.[76] According to Tornielli, Bergogliomade this request to prevent the conclave from delayingtoo much in the election of a pope.[77]

As a cardinal, Bergoglio was associated with Communionand Liberation, a Catholic evangelical lay movementof the type known as associations of the faithful.[67][78]He sometimes made appearances at the annual gather-ing known as the Rimini Meeting held during the latesummer months in Italy.[67] In 2005, Cardinal Bergoglioauthorized the request for beaticationthe rst steptowards sainthoodfor six members of the Pallottinecommunity murdered in the San Patricio Church mas-sacre.[79][80] At the same time, Bergoglio ordered an in-vestigation into the murders themselves, which had beenwidely blamed on the National Reorganization Process,the military regime that ruled Argentina at the time.[80]

3 Relations with Argentine govern-ments

3.1 Dirty WarBergoglio was the subject of allegations regarding thekidnapping of two Jesuit priests during Argentinas DirtyWar.[81] He feared for the priests safety and had triedto change their work prior to their arrest; however, con-trary to reports, he never tried to throw them out of theJesuit order.[82] In 2005, a human rights lawyer led acriminal complaint against Bergoglio, as superior in theSociety of Jesus of Argentina, accusing him of involve-ment in the Navys kidnapping of the two priests in May1976.[83] The lawyers complaint did not specify the na-ture of Bergoglios alleged involvement, and Bergogliosspokesman atly denied the allegations. The lawsuit wasultimately dismissed.[81] The priests, Orlando Yorio andFranz Jalics, had been tortured,[84] but found alive vemonths later, drugged and semi-naked. Yorio accusedBergoglio of eectively handing them over to the deathsquads by declining to tell the regime that he endorsedtheir work. Yorio (who died in 2000) said in a 1999 inter-view that he believed that Bergoglio did nothing to freeus, in fact just the opposite.[85] Jalics initially refusedto discuss the complaint after moving into seclusion in aGerman monastery.[86] However, two days after the elec-tion of Pope Francis, Jalics issued a statement conrm-ing the kidnapping and attributing the cause to a formerlay colleague who became a guerrilla, was captured, andnamed Yorio and Jalics when interrogated.[87] The fol-lowing week, Jalics issued a second, clarifying statement:It is wrong to assert that our capture took place at the ini-

tiative of Father Bergoglio ... the fact is, Orlando Yorioand I were not denounced by Father Bergoglio.[88][89]

Bergoglio told his authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin,that after the priests imprisonment, he worked behindthe scenes for their release; Bergoglios intercession withdictator Jorge Rafael Videla on their behalf may havesaved their lives.[90] In 2010, Bergoglio told Sergio Ru-bin that he had often sheltered people from the dicta-torship on church property, and once gave his own iden-tity papers to a man who looked like him, so he couldee Argentina.[84] The interview with Rubin, reectedin the biography El jesuita, is the only time Bergogliohas spoken to the press about those events.[91] AliciaOliveira, a former Argentine Judge, has also reportedthat Bergoglio helped people ee Argentina during themilitary regime.[92] Since Francis became Pope, GonzaloMosca[93] and Jos Caravias[94] have related to journalistsaccounts of how Bergoglio helped them ee the Argen-tine dictatorship.Oliveira described the future Pope as anguished andvery critical of the dictatorship during the DirtyWar.[95] Oliveira met with him at the time and urgedBergoglio to speak outhe told her that he couldn't.That it wasn't an easy thing to do.[85] Artist and humanrights activist Adolfo Prez Esquivel, who won the NobelPeace Prize in 1980, said: Perhaps he didn't have thecourage of other priests, but he never collaborated withthe dictatorship ... Bergoglio was no accomplice of thedictatorship.[96][97] Graciela Fernndez Meijide, mem-ber of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, alsosaid that there was no proof linking Bergoglio with thedictatorship. She told to the Clarn newspaper: Thereis no information and Justice couldn't prove it. I wasin the APDH during all the dictatorship years and I re-ceived hundreds of testimonies. Bergoglio was nevermentioned. It was the same in the CONADEP. Nobodymentioned him as instigator or as anything.[98] RicardoLorenzetti, President of the Argentine Supreme Court,also has said that Bergoglio is completely innocent ofthe accusations.[99] Historian Uki Goi pointed that, dur-ing the early 1976, the military regime still had a goodimage among society, and that the scale of the politi-cal repression was not known until much later; Bergogliowould have had little reason to suspect that the detentionof Yorio and Jalics could end up in their deaths.[100]

When Bergoglio became Pope, an alleged photo of himgiving the sacramental bread to dictator Jorge RafaelVidela became viral in social networks. It has also beenused by the newspaper Pgina 12.[101] The photo wassoon proved to be false. It was revealed that the father,whose face is not visible in the photo, was Carlos Bernde Astrada. The photo was taken at the church PequeaObra de la Divina Providencia Don Orione in 1990 (notduring the dirty war), after his presidential pardon. Thefoto was produced by the agency AFP and it was initiallypublished by the Crnica newspaper.[102]

53.2 Fernando de la RaFernando de la Ra replaced Carlos Menem as presidentof Argentina in 1999. As an archbishop, Bergoglio cele-brated the annual Mass at the Buenos Aires MetropolitanCathedral on the First National Government holiday, 25May. In 2000, Bergoglio criticized the perceived apathyof society.[103] Argentina faced an economic depressionat the time, and the Church criticized the scal auster-ity of the government, which increased poverty. De laRa asked the Church to promote a dialogue between theleaders of economic and political sectors to nd a solutionfor the crisis. He claims that he talked with Bergoglio andproposed to take part in the meeting, but Bergoglio wouldhave told him that the meeting was cancelled because ofa misunderstanding by De la Ras assistant, who mayhave declined the presidents assistance. Bishop JorgeCasaretto considers it unlikely, as De la Ra only madethe request in newspaper interviews, but never made aformal request to the Church.[104]

The Justicialist Party won the 2001 elections and got themajority in the Congress, and appointed Ramn Puertaas president of the Senate. As vice president Carlos l-varez resigned shortly before, this left an opposing partysecond in the order of precedence. Bergoglio asked foran interview with Puerta, and had a positive impressionof him. Puerta told him that the Justicialist party wasnot plotting to oust De la Ra, and promised to help thepresident promote the laws that may be required.[105]

During police repression of the riots of December 2001,he contacted the Ministry of the Interior and asked thatthe police distinguish rioters engaged in acts of vandalismfrom peaceful protesters.[106]

3.3 Kirchners

Pope Francis with Argentine president Cristina Fernndez deKirchner.

When Bergoglio celebrated Mass at the Cathedral forthe 2004 First National Government holiday, PresidentNstor Kirchner attended and heard Bergoglio requestmore political dialogue, reject intolerance, and criticizeexhibitionism and strident announcements.[107] Kirchner

celebrated the national day elsewhere the following yearand the Mass in the Cathedral was suspended.[108] In2006, Bergoglio helped the fellow jesuit Joaqun Pia towin the elections in the Misiones Province and preventan amendment of the local constitution that would al-low indenite re-elections. Kirchner intended to use thatproject to start similar amendments at other provinces,and eventually to the national constitution.[109] Kirch-ner considered Bergoglio as a political rival to the dayhe died in October 2010.[110] Bergoglios relations withKirchners widow and successor, Cristina Fernndez deKirchner, have been similarly tense. In 2008, Bergogliocalled for national reconciliation during disturbancesin the countrys agricultural regions, which the gov-ernment interpreted as a support for anti-governmentdemonstrators.[110] The campaign to enact same-sex mar-riage legislation was a particularly tense period in theirrelations.[110]

When Bergoglio was elected Pope, the initial reactionswere mixed. Most of the Argentine society cheered it,but the pro-government newspaper Pgina 12 publishedrenewed allegations about the dirty war, and the presi-dent of the National Library described a global conspir-acy theory. The president took more than an hour tocongratulate him, and only did so in a passing-by refer-ence inside a routine speech. However, as the Pope wasa huge positive image in his country, Cristina Kirchnermade a Copernican shift in her relation with him, andfully embraced the Francis phenomenon.[111] On the daybefore his inauguration as pope, Bergoglio, now Francis,had a private meeting with Kirchner. They exchangedgifts and lunched together. This was the new popes rstmeeting with a head of state, and there was speculationthat the two were mending their relations.[112][113] Pgina12 removed their controversial articles about Bergoglio,written by Horacio Verbitsky, from their web page, as aresult of this change.[114]

4 Relations with religious commu-nities and others

4.1 Interfaith dialogueBergoglio has written about his commitment to open andrespectful interfaith dialogue, as a way for all parties en-gaged in that dialogue to learn from one another.[115] Inthe 2011 book that records his conversations with RabbiAbraham Skorka, On Heaven and Earth, Bergoglio said:

Dialogue is born from an attitude of respectfor the other person, from a conviction thatthe other person has something good to say.It assumes that there is room in the heart forthe persons point of view, opinion, and pro-posal. Dialogue entails a cordial reception, nota prior condemnation. In order to dialogue it is

6 4 RELATIONS WITH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AND OTHERS

necessary to know how to lower the defenses,open the doors of the house, and oer humanwarmth.[115]

Religious leaders in Buenos Aires have mentionedthat Bergoglio promoted interfaith ceremonies at theBuenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral.[116] For example,in November 2012 he brought leaders of the Jewish, Mus-lim, Evangelical, and Orthodox Christian faiths togetherto pray for a peaceful solution to the Middle East con-icts.[116] Rabbi Alejandro Avruj praised Bergoglios in-terest in interfaith dialogue, and his commitment to mendreligious divisions.[116]

Shortly after his election, the pope called for moreinterreligious dialogue as a way of building bridgesand establishing true links of friendship between allpeople.[117] He added that it was crucial to intensifyoutreach to nonbelievers, so that the dierences whichdivide and hurt us may never prevail.[117] He said thathis title of ponti means builder of bridges, and thatit was his wish that the dialogue between us should helpto build bridges connecting all people, in such a way thateveryone can see in the other not an enemy, not a rival,but a brother or sister to be welcomed and embraced.[117]

On 24 May 2014 Pope Francis arrived in Jordan, at thestart of a tour of the Middle East, aiming to boost tieswith Muslims and Jews as well as easing an age-old riftwithin Christianity.[118]

4.1.1 Eastern Orthodox Church

Pope Francis meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew I in theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre during his 2014 pilgrimage to theHoly Land.

Bergoglio is recognized for his eorts to further closethe nearly 1,000-year estrangement with the OrthodoxChurches".[119] Antoni Sevruk, rector of the Russian Or-thodox Church of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr inRome, said that Bergoglio often visited Orthodox ser-vices in the Russian Orthodox Annunciation Cathedralin Buenos Aires and is known as an advocate on be-

half of the Orthodox Church in dealing with Argentinasgovernment.[120]

Bergoglios positive relationship with the EasternOrthodox Churches is reected in the fact thatPatriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople attended hisinstallation.[121] This is the rst time since the GreatSchism of 1054 that the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchof Constantinople, a position considered rst amongequals in the Eastern Orthodox Church organization,has attended a papal installation.[122] Orthodox leadersstate that Bartholomews decision to attend the ceremonyshows that the relationship between the Orthodox andCatholic Churches is a priority of his, but they also notethat Franciss well-documented work for social justiceand his insistence that globalization is detrimental to thepoor may have created a renewed opportunity for thetwo Church communities to work collectively on issuesof mutual concern.[121][lower-alpha 4]

4.1.2 Protestantism

Gregory Venables, Anglican Bishop of Argentina, saidthat Cardinal Bergoglio had told him very clearly thatthe Personal Ordinariate(s) (the branch of the CatholicChurch set up for defecting Anglicans) was quite un-necessary, and that the Catholic Church needed An-glicans as Anglicans. A spokesman for the Ordinariatesaid the words were those of Venables, not the Pope.[124]Mark Hanson, then presiding bishop of the EvangelicalLutheran Church in America (ELCA), greeted the newsof Bergoglios election with a public statement thatpraised his work with Lutherans in Argentina.[125]

Evangelical leaders including Argentine Luis Palau, whomoved to the US in his twenties, have welcomed the newsof Bergoglios election as Pope based on his relationswith Evangelical Protestants, noting that Bergoglios -nancial manager for the Archdiocese of Buenos Aireswas an Evangelical Christian whom Bergoglio refers toas a friend.[126] Palau recounted how Bergoglio wouldnot only relax and drink mate" with that friend, butwould also read the Bible and pray with him, based onwhat Bergoglio called a relationship of friendship andtrust.[126] Palau described Bergoglios approach to rela-tionships with Evangelicals as one of building bridgesand showing respect, knowing the dierences, but ma-joring on what we can agree on: on the divinity of Jesus,his virgin birth, his resurrection, the second coming.[126]As a result of Bergoglios election, Palau predicted thattensions will be eased.[126]

Juan Pablo Bongarr, president of the Argentine BibleSociety, recounted that Bergoglio not onlymet with Evan-gelicals, and prayed with thembut he also asked themto pray for him.[127] Bongarr noted that Bergoglio wouldfrequently end a conversation with the request, Pastor,pray for me.[127] Additionally, Bongarr told the storyof a weekly worship meeting of charismatic pastors in

4.1 Interfaith dialogue 7

Buenos Aires, which Bergoglio attended: He mountedthe platform and called for pastors to pray for him. Heknelt in front of nearly 6,000 people, and [the Protestantleaders there] laid hands and prayed.[127]

Other Evangelical leaders agree that Bergoglios relation-ships in Argentina make him situated to better under-stand Protestantism.[128] Noting that the divide betweenCatholicism and Protestantism is often present amongmembers of the same families in Argentina, and is there-fore an extremely important human issue, Francis couldset the tone for more compassionate conversations amongfamilies about the dierences between Protestantism andCatholicism.[128]

4.1.3 Judaism

Francis praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on his 2014visit to the Holy Land

Bergoglio has close ties to the Jewish community of Ar-gentina, and attended Rosh Hashanah (Jewish new year)services in 2007 at a synagogue in Buenos Aires. He toldthe Jewish congregation during his visit that he went to thesynagogue to examine his heart, like a pilgrim, togetherwith you, my elder brothers.[129] After the 1994 AMIAbombing of a Jewish Community Center that killed 85people, Bergoglio was the rst public gure to sign a peti-tion condemning the attack and calling for justice. Jewishcommunity leaders around the world noted that his wordsand actions showed solidarity with the Jewish commu-nity in the aftermath of this attack.[129]

A former head of the World Jewish Congress, IsraelSinger, reported that he worked with Bergoglio in theearly 2000s, distributing aid to the poor as part of a jointJewish-Catholic program called "Tzedak". Singer notedthat he was impressed with Bergoglios modesty, remem-bering that if everyone sat in chairs with handles [arms],he would sit in the one without.[129] Bergoglio also co-hosted a Kristallnacht memorial ceremony at the BuenosAires Metropolitan Cathedral in 2012,[129] and joined agroup of clerics from a number of dierent religions tolight candles in a 2012 synagogue ceremony on the occa-sion of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.[130]

Pope Francis blessed the cornerstone for the building ofthe museum devoted to wartime Polish rescuers of Jewswhich is being built in the Polish village of Markowa;where the family of Jzef and Wiktoria Ulma, who arenow Servants of God as the Vatican is studying their causefor sainthood, were shot by the Germans for hiding theirJewish neighbors.[131]

Abraham Skorka, the rector of the Latin-American Rab-binical Seminary in Buenos Aires, and Bergoglio pub-lished their conversations on religious and philosophi-cal subjects as Sobre el cielo y la tierra (On Heaven andEarth).[132] An editorial in Israel's Jerusalem Post notesthat Unlike John Paul II, who as a child had positivememories of the Jews of his native Poland but due to theHolocaust had no Jewish community to interact with inPoland as an adult, Pope Francis has maintained a sus-tained and very positive relationship with a living, breath-ing [Jewish] community in Buenos Aires.[132]

One of the popes rst ocial actions was writing aletter to Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi ofRome, inviting him to the papal installation and shar-ing his hope of collaboration between the Catholic andJewish communities.[133] Addressing representatives ofJewish organizations and communities, Francis said that,due to our common roots [a] Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!"[134]

4.1.4 Islam

Muslim leaders in Buenos Aires welcomed the newsof Bergoglios election as pope, noting that he alwaysshowed himself as a friend of the Islamic commu-nity, and a person whose position is pro-dialogue.[135]They praised Bergoglios close ties with Muslim groupsand noted his comments when Pope Benedicts 2006Regensburg lecture was interpreted by many as denigrat-ing Islam. According to them, Bergoglio immediatelydistanced himself from Benedicts language and said thatstatements which provoke outrage with Muslims willserve to destroy in 20 seconds the careful constructionof a relationship with Islam that Pope John Paul II builtover the last 20 years.[136]

Bergoglio visited both a mosque and an Islamic schoolin Argentina; visits that the Director for the Diu-sion of Islam, Sheik Mohsen Ali, called actions thatstrengthened the relationship between the Catholic andIslamic communities.[135] Dr. Sumer Noufouri, Sec-retary General of the Islamic Center of the ArgentineRepublic (CIRA), added that Bergoglios past actionsmake his election as pope provide Muslims a cause ofjoy and expectation of strengthening dialogue betweenreligions.[135] Noufouri said that the relationship be-tween CIRA and Bergoglio over the course of a decadehad helped to build up Christian-Muslim dialogue in away that was really signicant in the history of monothe-istic relations in Argentina.[135]

8 5 PAPACY

Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar and presi-dent of Egypts Al-Azhar University, sent congratulationsafter the popes election.[137] Al-Tayeb had broken orelations with the Vatican during Benedict XVIs timeas pope; his message of congratulations also includedthe request that Islam asks for respect from the newponti.[137]

Shortly after his election, in a meeting with ambassadorsfrom the 180 countries accredited with the Holy See,Pope Francis called for more interreligious dialogue"particularly with Islam.[117] He also expressed gratitudethat so many civil and religious leaders from the Islamicworld had attended his installation Mass.[117] An edito-rial in the Saudi Arabian paper Saudi Gazette stronglywelcomed the popes call for increased interfaith dia-logue, stressing that while the pope was reiterating a po-sition he has always maintained, his public call as popefor increased dialogue with Islam comes as a breath offresh air at a time when much of the Western world isexperiencing a nasty outbreak of Islamophobia".[138]

4.2 NonbelieversSpeaking to journalists and media employees on 16March 2013, Pope Francis said he would bless themsilently, Given that many of you do not belong to theCatholic Church, and others are not believers.[139] In hispapal address on 20 March, he said the attempt to elim-inate God and the Divine from the horizon of human-ity resulted in violence, but described as well his feel-ings about nonbelievers: "[W]e also sense our closenessto all those men and women who, although not identify-ing themselves as followers of any religious tradition, arenonetheless searching for truth, goodness and beauty, thetruth, goodness and beauty of God. They are our valuedallies in the commitment to defending human dignity, inbuilding a peaceful coexistence between peoples and insafeguarding and caring for creation.[140][141]

Some atheists expressed hope that Francis would proveto be progressive on issues like poverty and socialinequality,[142] while others were more skeptical that hewould be interested in a partnership of equals.[143]In May 2013, Francis said that all who do good canbe redeemed through Jesus, including atheists. Fran-cis stated that God has redeemed all of us, all of us,with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics.Everyone! ... Even the atheists, Everyone![144] LaterThomas Rosica stated non-Catholics who know the Ro-man Catholic Church can get to Heaven only by convert-ing to Catholicism. Outspoken atheist Richard Dawkinscommented Atheists go to heaven? Nope. Sorry world,infallible pope got it wrong. Vatican steps in withalacrity. Author Neale Donald Walsch stated, it was re-grettable that the hidden hierarchy of the Roman CatholicChurch chose to ocially retract the recent statement oneternal damnation bravely made by its new leader, PopeFrancis.[145]

Hendrik Hertzberg suggests in the The New Yorker mag-azine Rosica used weasel words and left imprecise howmuch a non-Catholic needs to know about Catholicism;before according to Church doctrine, that person is re-quired to enter the Church or be damned. Further Rosicapublished his statement in Toronto through Zenit NewsAgency rather than through the Vatican or the Holy See.Hertzberg claims imprecision is deliberate and speculatesthat there may be major internal disagreement betweensupporters and opponents of Vatican II in the CatholicChurch.[146]

In September 2013 Francis wrote an open letter to thefounder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari,stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God ifthey followed their consciences. Responding to a list ofquestions published in the paper by Scalfari, who is nota Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: You ask me if theGod of the Christians forgives those who don't believeand who don't seek the faith. I start by sayingand thisis the fundamental thingthat Gods mercy has no limitsif you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. Theissue for those who do not believe in God is to obey theirconscience. Sin, even for those who have no faith, existswhen people disobey their conscience.[147]

5 PapacyCoat of arms of Pope Francis

As Cardinal

As PopeThe gold star represents the Virgin Mary, the grape-like plantthe spikenardis associated with SaintJoseph and the IHS emblem is the symbol of theJesuits[148][149][150]

Elected at the age of 76, Francis was reported to be

5.2 Name 9

healthy, and his doctors have stated that his missing lungtissue, removed in his youth, does not have a signi-cant impact on his health.[151] The only concern wouldbe decreased respiratory reserve if he had a respiratoryinfection.[152] In the past, one attack of sciatica in 2007prevented him from attending a consistory and delayedhis return to Argentina for several days.[69]

Francis is the rst Jesuit pope. This was an unexpectedappointment, because of the tense relations between theSociety of Jesus and the Holy See.[153] He is also the rstfrom the Americas,[154] and the rst from the SouthernHemisphere. Many media reported him as being the rstnon-European pope, but hes actually the 11th. The pre-vious one was Gregory III in 741, 1,272 years earlier.However, although he does not have a European nation-ality, he has a European ethnicity.[155]

As pope, his manner is less formal than that of his pre-decessors: a style that news coverage has referred to asno frills, noting that it is his common touch and ac-cessibility that is proving the greatest inspiration.[156]For example, he chose to reside in the Domus SanctaeMarthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartments ofthe Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors. On thenight of his election, he took the bus back to his hotel withthe cardinals, rather than be driven in the papal car.[157]The next day, he visited Cardinal Jorge Mara Meja inthe hospital and chatted with patients and sta.[158] Athis rst media audience, the Friday after his election, thePope said of Saint Francis of Assisi: The man who givesus this spirit of peace, the poor man, and he added HowI would like a poor Church, and for the poor.[159]

In addition to his native Spanish, Francis is also con-versant in Latin (the ocial language of the Holy See),speaks uent Italian (the ocial language of VaticanCity and the everyday language of the Holy See),and he understands the Piedmontese dialect and someGenoese,[160] German,[161] French,[162] Portuguese,[163]English,[164] and Ukrainian.[165][166]

Francis chose not to live in the ocial papal residence inthe Apostolic Palace, but to remain in the Vatican guesthouse, in a suite in which he can receive visitors andhold meetings. He is the rst pope since Pope Pius Xto live outside the papal apartments.[167] Francis still ap-pears at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Sun-day Angelus.[168]

5.1 ElectionMain articles: Papal conclave, 2013 and Papal inaugura-tion of Pope FrancisBergoglio was elected pope on 13 March 2013,[169][170]the second day of the 2013 papal conclave, taking thepapal name Francis.[171] Francis was elected on the fthballot of the conclave.[172] The Habemus Papam was de-livered by Cardinal protodeacon Jean-Louis Tauran.[173]Cardinal Christoph Schnborn later said that Bergoglio

Francis appears to the public for the rst time as pope, at thebalcony of St. Peters Basilica, 13 March 2013.

was elected following two supernatural signs, one inthe conclave and hence condential, and a Latin Amer-ican couple of friends of Schnborn who whisperedBergoglios name in Schnborns ear; Schnborn com-mented if these people say Bergoglio, thats an indica-tion of the Holy Spirit.[174]

Instead of accepting his cardinals congratulations whileseated on the Papal throne, Francis received them stand-ing, reportedly an immediate sign of a changing approachto formalities at the Vatican.[175] During his rst appear-ance as ponti on the balcony of Saint Peters Basilica,he wore a white cassock, not the red, ermine-trimmedmozzetta[175][176] used by the previous Popes.[177] He alsowore the same iron pectoral cross that he hadworn as Car-dinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the goldone worn by his predecessors.[176]

After being elected and choosing his name, his rst actwas bestowing the Urbi et Orbi blessing to thousands ofpilgrims gathered in St. Peters Square. Before blessingthe pilgrims, he asked those in St. Peters Square to prayfor his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and forhimself.[178]

Pope Francis held his Papal inauguration on 19 March2013 in St. Peters Square in the Vatican. He celebratedMass in the presence of various political and religiousleaders from around the world.[179] In his homily PopeFrancis focused on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, theliturgical day on which the Mass was celebrated.[180]

5.2 Name

At his rst audience on 16 March 2013, Francis toldjournalists that he had chosen the name in honor ofSaint Francis of Assisi, and had done so because hewas especially concerned for the well-being of thepoor.[181][182][183] He explained that, as it was becomingclear during the conclave voting that he would be electedthe new bishop of Rome, the Brazilian Cardinal CludioHummes had embraced him and whispered, Don't for-

10 5 PAPACY

Francis among the people at St. Peters Square.

get the poor, which had made Bergoglio think of thesaint.[184][185] Bergoglio had previously expressed his ad-miration for St. Francis, explaining that He brought toChristianity an idea of poverty against the luxury, pride,vanity of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the time.He changed history.[186]

This is the rst time that a pope has been named Francis.On the day of his election, the Vatican claried that hisocial papal name was Francis, not Francis I. A Vat-ican spokesman said that the name would become Fran-cis I if and when there is a Francis II.[182][187] It is therst time since Pope Lando's 913914 reign that a servingpope holds a name not used by a predecessor.[lower-alpha 5]

Francis also said that some cardinal-electors had jokinglysuggested to him that he should choose either Adrian,since Pope Adrian VI had been a reformer of the church,or Clement to settle the score with Pope Clement XIV,who had suppressed the Jesuit order.[189][190] In February2014, it was reported that Bergoglio, had he been electedin 2005, would have chosen the pontical name of JohnXXIV in honour of Pope John XXIII. It was said thathe told Cardinal Francesco Marchisano: John, I wouldhave calledmyself John, like theGood Pope; I would havebeen completely inspired by him.[191]

5.3 Curia

On 16March 2013, Pope Francis asked all those in seniorpositions of the Roman Curia to provisionally continuein oce.[192] He named Alfred Xuereb as his personalsecretary.[193] On 6 April he named Jos Rodrguez Car-ballo as secretary for the Congregation for Institutes ofConsecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, a posi-tion that had been vacant for several months.[194] Francisabolished the bonuses paid to Vatican employees upon theelection of a new pope, amounting to approximately sev-eral million Euros, opting instead to donate the money tocharity.[195] He also abolished the 25,000 annual bonuspaid to the cardinals serving on the Board of Supervisorsfor the Vatican bank.[196]

Inauguration of Pope Francis, 19 March 2013.

On 13 April 2013, he named a group of 8 cardinals toadvise him and to study a plan for revising the Apos-tolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus,including several known as critics of Vatican opera-tions and only one member of the Curia.[197] They areGiuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican City Stategovernorate; Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa from Chile;Oswald Gracias from India; Reinhard Marx from Ger-many; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya from the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo; George Pell from Australia; SenO'Malley from the United States; and Oscar Andres Ro-driguez Maradiaga from Honduras. He appointed BishopMarcello Semeraro secretary for the group and scheduledits rst meeting for 13 October.[198]

5.4 Early issues

Map indicating countries visited by Francis as pope, as of June2015

In March 2013, 21 British Catholic peers and Membersof Parliament from all parties asked Francis to allowmar-ried men in Great Britain to be ordained as priests, keep-ing celibacy as the rule for bishops. They asked it on thegrounds that it would be anomalous that married Angli-can priests can be received into the Catholic Church andordained as priests, by means of either the Pastoral Pro-vision of 20 June 1980 or the 2009 Anglican ordinariate,but married Catholic men cannot do the same.[199]

Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, included

5.5 Consultation with Catholic laity 11

a call in his 2013 Easter homily for the Pope to visitJerusalem.[200] Louis Raphael I, the Chaldean CatholicPatriarch, asked the Pope to visit the embattled Chris-tian community in Iraq.[201] President Cristina Fernn-dez de Kirchner invited Francis when she visited theVatican before the popes inauguration, asking for hishelp to promote dialogue between Argentina and theUnited Kingdom;[202] Monsignor Michael McPartland,the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands, commented"[Francis] must be seen as Pope rst and where he comesfrom should not gure in the equation. But I would alsolike to think he would have a benecial impact and per-haps be able to express some soothing words that wouldhelp the situation here.[203] As of June 2014, Francishimself has not made any comment over the sovereigntydispute since becoming pope.[204]

On the rst Holy Thursday following his election, Franciswashed and kissed the feet of ten male and two femalejuvenile oenders, not all Catholic, aged from 14 to 21,imprisoned at Romes Casal delMarmo detention facility,telling them the ritual of foot washing is a sign that he is attheir service.[205] This was the rst time that a pope hadincluded women in this ritual; although he had alreadydone so when he was archbishop.[205] One of the maleand one of the female oenders was Muslim.[205][206]

On 31March 2013 Francis used his rst Easter homily tomake a plea for peace throughout the world, specicallymentioning theMiddle-East, Africa, andNorth and SouthKorea.[207] He also spoke out against those who give into easy gain in a world lled with greed, and made aplea for humanity to become a better guardian of cre-ation by protecting the environment.[207] He said that Weask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to changehatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war intopeace.[208] Although the Vatican had prepared greetingsin 65 languages, Francis chose not to read them.[166] Ac-cording to the Vatican, the pope at least for now, feelsat ease using Italian, the everyday language of the HolySee.[209]

In 2013 Francis initially rearmed the Congregation forthe Doctrine of the Faith's program to reform the U.S.Leadership Conference of Women Religious.,[210] initi-ated under his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. TheNewYork Times reported that the Vatican had formed theopinion in 2012 that the sisters group was tinged withfeminist inuences, focused too much on ending socialand economic injustice and not enough on stopping abor-tion, and permitted speakers at its meetings who ques-tioned church doctrine.[211][212] However, in April 2015the investigation was brought to a close. The timing ofthe closure may have anticipated a visit by Francis to theU.S. in the autumn of 2015.[213]

On 12 May Francis carried out his rst canonizations,of candidates approved for sainthood during the reign ofBenedict XVI: the rst Colombian saint, Laura of SaintCatherine of Siena, the second female Mexican saint,

Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, both of the 20th cen-tury, and the 813 15th-century Martyrs of Otranto. Hesaid: While we venerate the martyrs of Otrante, ask Godto support the many Christians who still suer from vio-lence and give them the courage and fate and respond toevil with goodness. He also commented on abortion, say-ing legislation should be introduced to protect all humanbeings from the rst moment of their existence.[214]

5.5 Consultation with Catholic laityA February 2014 survey by World Values Survey citedin The Washington Post and Time shows how the unityPope Francis had created could be challenged. Althoughviews about Francis personally were favorable, manyCatholics disagreed with at least some of his teachings.The survey found that members of the Roman CatholicChurch are deeply divided over abortion, articial con-traception, divorce, the ordination of women, and mar-ried priests.[215][216] In the same month Pope Francisasked parishes to provide answers to an ocial ques-tionnaire described as a much broader consultation thanjust a survey[217] regarding opinions among the laity.He continued to assert Catholic doctrine, in less dra-matic tone than his recent predecessors, who maintainedthat the Catholic Church is not a democracy of popularopinion.[218]

Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University writes of thesurvey Francis initiated, its not a survey in any sensethat a social scientist would recognize. Woodhead saidthat many ordinary Catholics would have diculty under-standing theological jargon there. Nonetheless, Wood-head suspected the survey might be inuential.

But surveys are dangerous things. Theyraise expectations. And they play to peo-ples growing sense that they have voice andchoiceeven in a traditional Church. If itturns out that those voices are ignored or,worse, corralled more rmly into the existingsheepfold of moral teaching, the tension mayreach a breaking point. Perhaps Francis isclever enough to have anticipated that, andperhaps he has subtle plans to turn such a crisisto good ends. Perhaps not.Linda Woodhead[219]

The Catholic Church in England and Wales as of April2014 had refused to publish results of this survey; aChurch spokesman said a senior Vatican ocial had ex-pressly asked for summaries to remain condential, andthat orders had come from the Pope that the informa-tion should not be made public until after October. Thisdisappointed many reformers who hoped the laity wouldbe more involved in decision-making. Some other Ro-man Catholic churches, for example in Germany and

12 6 TEACHINGS

Austria published summaries of the responses to the sur-vey, which showed a wide gap between Church teachingand the behaviour of ordinary Catholics.[217]

In a column he wrote for the Vaticans semi-ocial news-paper L'Osservatore Romano, the head Prefect of theSupreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, US Cardi-nal Raymond Leo Burke, who has a long-standing reputa-tion as one of the churchs most vocal conservative hard-liners, said that Pope Francis opposed both abortion andgay marriage.[220] The Vaticans chief spokesman, FatherFederico Lombardi, also noted in the Vatican Press Of-ce during the 2014 consistory meetings that Pope Fran-cis and Cardinal Walter Kasper would not change or re-dene any dogmas pertaining to Church theology on doc-trinal matters.[221]

5.6 Institute for the Works of ReligionIn the rst months of Franciss papacy, the Institute forthe Works of Religion, informally known as the Vati-can Bank, said that it would become more transparentin its nancial dealings[222] There had long been allega-tions of corruption and money laundering connected withthe bank.[223][224] Francis appointed a commission to ad-vise him about reform of the Bank,[223][224] and the -nance consulting rm Promontory Financial Group wasassigned to carry out a comprehensive investigation of allcustomer contacts of the bank on these facts.[225] Becauseof this aair the Promoter of Justice at the Vatican Tri-bunal applied a letter rogatory for the rst time in the his-tory of the Republic of Italy at the beginning of August2013.[226] In January 2014 Francis replaced four of theve cardinal overseers of the Vatican Bank, who had beenconrmed in their positions in the nal days of BenedictXVIs papacy.[227] Lay experts and clerics were lookinginto how the bank was run. Ernst von Freyberg was putin charge. Moneyval feels more reform is needed, andFrancis may be willing to close the bank if the reformsprove too dicult.[228]

5.7 Papal documentsOn 29 June 2013, Pope Francis published his rstencyclical, titled Lumen dei.[229] He published his sec-ond one, entitled Laudato si', on June 18, 2015.[230] On24 November 2013, he published his apostolic exhorta-tion Evangelii gaudium.[231]

In April 2015, he issued a papal bull of indiction,"Misericordiae Vultus" (Latin: The Face of Mercy"), toinaugurate a Special Jubilee Year of Mercy, to run from 8December 2015, Solemnity of the Immaculate Concep-tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the last Sunday beforeAdvent and the Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the Kingof the Universe on 20 November 2016. During that time,the Holy Doors of the major basilicas of Rome (espe-cially the Great Door of St. Peters) will be opened, and

special Doors ofMercy will be opened at cathedrals andother major churches around the world, where the faith-ful can earn indulgences by fullling the usual conditionsof prayer for the Popes intentions, confession and detach-ment from sin, and communion. During Lent of that year,special 24-hour penance services will be celebrated, andduring the year, special qualied and experienced priestscalled Missionaries of Mercy will be available in everydiocese to forgive even severe, special-case sins normallyreserved to the Holy Sees Apostolic Penitentiary.[232][233]

5.8 Clerical titlesIn January 2014 Pope Francis decreed that he would ap-point fewer Monsignore and led the way by appointingonly one Chaplain of His Holiness, whereas there werepreviously three holders of this title. He announced thatit would henceforth be awarded only to diocesan priestsat least 65 years old. During his 15 years as Archbishopof Buenos Aires, Pope Francis never asked for any of hispriests to be raised to the title of Monsignor, which it isbelieved His Holiness associates with clerical careerismand hierarchy.[234]

Pope Francis has also suspended making appointmentsto the Papal Orders of Knighthood, which does not aectthe Order of Malta.

5.9 ConsistoriesMain article: Cardinals created by Francis

At the rst consistory of his papacy, held on 22 Febru-ary 2014, Francis created 19 new cardinals. At the timeof their elevation to that rank, 16 of these new cardinalswere under eighty years of age and thus eligible to votein a papal conclave.[235] The new appointees includedprelates from South America, Africa and Asia, includ-ing appointees in some of the worlds poorest countries,such as Chibly Langlois from Haiti and Philippe Nakel-lentuba Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso.[236] The consis-tory was a rare occasion where Francis and his predeces-sor, Benedict XVI, made a joint public appearance.[236]

The second consistory was celebrated on 14 February2015, which Benedict XVI also attended. The pope el-evated 20 new cardinals, with 15 under the age of eightyand ve others over the age of eighty. The pope continuedhis practice of appointing cardinals from the peripheries,such as Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar and Soane PatitaPaini Ma of Tonga.

6 TeachingsMain article: Theology of Pope FrancisFrancis told La Civilt Cattolica that the church does not

6.2 The environment 13

Francis during the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul IIon 27 April 2014

need to speak constantly of the issues of abortion, arti-cial contraception and homosexuality. He thought thatother issues, notably the duty to help those who are poorandmarginalized, have been neglected. He added that thechurch had focused in trivial issues, and as such should notbe so prone to condemn, and that priests should be morewelcoming. He said the confessional should be used tomotivate people to better themselves.[237][238][239][240]

6.1 Mercy

Pope Francis said that the most powerful message of Je-sus Christ is mercy.[241] His motto, Miserando atque eli-gendo, is about Jesus mercy towards sinners. The phraseis taken from a homily of St. Bede, who commentedthat Jesus saw the tax collector and, because he saw himthrough the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said to him:'Follow me'".[lower-alpha 6][47] The motto is a reference tothemoment when he found his vocation to the priesthood,at the age of 17. He started a day of student celebrationsby going to confession.[242]

As cardinal he thought Christian morality is not a titaniceort of the will, but a response to the mercy of God. Itis not a matter of never falling down but of always gettingup again. In this sense, he says Christian morality is arevolution.[243] The Gospel reading for the Sunday he wasscheduled to give his rst public address as pope was onJesus forgiveness of the adulterous woman. This allowedhim to discuss the principle that God never wearies offorgiving the human race, the signicance of mercy, andto never tire in asking for forgiveness.[244]

As pope on 13 March 2015 Francis announced that in2016 the universal church would celebrate a Jubilee Yeardedicated to the theme of Gods mercy. The Vatican an-nounced the pope would perform several acts to demon-

strate the theme of Gods mercy. The Jubilee Year shallopen on 8 December 2015 and close on 20 November2016.[245]

6.2 The environment

After his election Francis stated, Here too, it helps meto think of the name of Francis [of Assisi], who teachesus profound respect for the whole of creation and theprotection of our environment, which all too often, in-stead of using for the good, we exploit greedily, to oneanothers detriment..[246] At the University of Molise hedescribed environmental concerns as a great contempo-rary challenge and voiced opposition to deforestation. Hebelieves that development should respect what Christianssee as creation, and that exploiting the earth is sinful.[247]Francis told the Second International Conference on Nu-trition, held in Rome by the Food and Agriculture Orga-nization,[248] that a lack of protection for the ecology maygenerate problems.[249] Francis plans ameeting with lead-ers of main religions to increase awareness of the state ofthe climate.[250]

On 18 June 2015, Pope Francis issued a papal encyclicalcalled Laudato si' on climate change, care for the envi-ronment and sustainable development.[251] (The encycli-cal, although dated 24 May 2015,[252] was ocially madepublic on 18 June 2015.) This project was opposed byVatican conservatives, Catholic conservatives and the USevangelical movement.[253]

As he prepared for the encyclical, Francis sponsoreda Pontical Academy of Sciences summit meeting inApril 2015 that focused on the relationships connectingpoverty, economic development and climate change. Themeeting included presentations and discussions by sci-entists, religious leaders, and economists. The UnitedNations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who is urgingworld leaders to approve a climate-change accord in Parisat the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conferencein December, delivered the keynote address.[254]

In April 2015 Francis tweeted: We need to care for theearth so that it may continue, as Godwilled, to be a sourceof life for the entire human family.[255]

6.3 Evangelization

Another theme Pope Francis emphasized in hisrst address to the cardinals is the approach toevangelization.[256] He talked about the signicance ofthe Holy Spirit for it. It is a theme he has repeated inother occasions, specically in his biography, where hespoke about pastoral reforms and making the Churchcloser to the people. He observed that the church maynot attract people if they are forced to t within complexstructures and habits. He thought that the church shouldnot regulate faith, but rather facilitate faith.[242]

14 6 TEACHINGS

He compared the Aparecida document with theEvangelii nuntiandi exhortation. He pointed that the mainidea of the document is to actively preach for society atlarge. He rejected the strong conservatism that followsdocuments to the letter, and encouraged a pragmatic ap-proach instead. For instance, he proposed that if fewerpeople go to Mass, then the priests should nd alternativeways to reach the people.[257]

6.4 Poverty

Pope Francis visits a favela in Brazil during theWorld Youth Day2013.

See also: Christian views on poverty and wealth

At a meeting of Latin American bishops in 2007,Bergoglio said that, despite the economic growth, povertyhad not been reduced in the continent, and askedfor a better income distribution.[258] On 30 Septem-ber 2009, Bergoglio spoke at a conference organizedby the Argentina City Postgraduate School (EPOCA)at the Alvear Palace Hotel in which he quoted the1992 Documento de Santo Domingo[259] by theLatin American Episcopal Conference, saying "extremepoverty and unjust economic structures that cause greatinequalities" are violations of human rights.[260][261] Hewent on to describe social debt as immoral, unjust andillegitimate.[262]

During a 48-hour public servant strike in Buenos Aires,Argentina, Bergoglio criticized unequal treatment of thejudiciary to poor and rich people.[263] In 2002, duringan economic crisis, Bergoglio harshly criticized thosein power, saying, Lets not tolerate the sad spectacleof those who no longer know how to lie and contradictthemselves to hold onto their privileges, their rapacious-ness, and their ill-earned wealth.[264] During aMay 2010Mass celebrated by twenty bishops commemorating theArgentina Bicentennial in front of the basilica of Lujn,an important Catholic institution and destination of pil-grimage, Bergoglio criticized the reduced social concernover poverty, and exhorted Catholics to ask the Virgin ofLujn to take care of our motherland, particularly thosewho are most forgotten.[265] In line with the Catholic

Churchs eorts to care for AIDS victims, in 2001 hevisited a hospice where he washed and kissed the feetof twelve AIDS patients.[258] As Pope Francis he spokeout over the collapse of Rana Plaza garment factory inApril 2013, which killed over a thousand people, and con-demned the low pay workers received.[266]

Pope Francis urged world leaders to prevent excessivemonetary ambitions, which he said had become similarto an idolatry of money, and urged them to provide morewelfare aid.[267] Dealing with the Great Recession, thepope criticized unbridled capitalism, considering that itjudged human beings purely by their ability to consumegoods and made people miserable.[268] He said that so-cial inequality is caused by economic liberalism, and pre-ferred economic systems with a higher intervention by thestate.[269] During a May 2014 meeting with U.N. Secre-tary General Ban Ki-moon, Francis called on the UnitedNations to encourage a better income distribution.[270]

Pope Francis deplores modern slavery and, together witha diverse group of leaders from other religions, he signeda declaration promising to inspire action worldwide in aneort to eliminate slavery by 2020. Both Pope Francisand the declaration described slavery as a crime againsthumanity.[271][272] During his new year mass in 2015Francis pressed people from all cultures and religions tocombat human tracking and modern slavery accordingto their responsibilities. Francis said all human beings arebrothers and sisters and all have a right to be free.[273]

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel consulted Fran-cis on 18 May 2013, and later the same day called formore stringent controls of nancial markets.[274] Fran-cis has referred many times to the Eurozone crisis thataect Greece and Roman Catholic Southern Europeannations.[275] Nevertheless, Pope Francis considers thatstarvation and homeless people are bigger problems thanthe nancial crises.[274] George Haley of NewHaven Uni-versity said that Francis thinks that capitalism should re-duce income disparity, and proposed that he used thediplomatic inuence of the Vatican to suggest changesin national economies.[276] Rohit Arora is concerned thatFrancis has not come up with any specic way to solveincome inequality and believes if the pope is serious heshould do so. Joseph Pastore believes the wealth of theCatholic Church prevents Francis from taking a polariz-ing position and is unsure how far Francis can reform theChurch.[276]

Pope Francis denounced the autonomy of the market-place and nancial speculation as tyranny in his 84-page apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium:

Just as the commandment Thou shalt notkill sets a clear limit in order to safeguard thevalue of human life, today we also have to saythou shalt not to an economy of exclusionand inequality. Such an economy kills. ... Anew tyranny is thus born, invisible and oftenvirtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly im-

6.6 Abortion 15

poses its own laws and rules. To all this wecan addwidespread corruption and self-servingtax evasion, which has taken on worldwide di-mensions. The thirst for power and possessionsknows no limits.[277][278]

Pope Francis views were called Marxist by Rush Lim-baugh and other conservatives as a result of his critiqueof capitalism with absolute market autonomy.[279] PopeFrancis responded that Marxist ideology is wrong. ButI have met many Marxists in my life who are good peo-ple, so I don't feel oended ... there is nothing in theexhortation that cannot be found in the social doctrine ofthe church.[279] He later postulated that the Communistsstole the ag of Christianity as the ag of the poor isChristian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel.[280]

6.5 Liberation theology

Francis opposed the Marxist versions of liberation theol-ogy followed by the "'progressive' group of [Jesuit] the-ologians living out in base communities.[281] As he wrotein the preface to a book on the Catholic Church in LatinAmerica, Una apuesta por America Latina (A Commit-ment to Latin America) by Guzmn Carriquiry Lecour,the proponents of liberation theology were unable to re-formulate it after the collapse of Marxism, and it thus be-came an anachronism.[282][283][284] His theologian of ref-erence was Juan Carlos Scannone, a fellow Jesuit who haddeveloped a theology centered on the religious devotionof the common people.[282][283][285]

Historian Roberto Bosca at the Austral University inBuenos Aires says that Pope Francis supported liberationtheologys preferential option for the poor, although in anonideological fashion.[282][286] Before becoming Pope,Cardinal Bergoglio described liberation theologys pref-erential option for the poor as part of a long Christiantradition rooted in the Gospels.[287] Bergoglios opposi-tion focused on the Montoneros, a terrorist group similarto the European Red Brigades that caused nearly 6,000deaths. Montoneros claimed that they ascribed to lib-eration theology, and sought support from the Church.Bosca considers that Bergoglios opposition to the Mon-toneros wasn't opposition to liberation theology in itselfor the option for the poor, but opposition to the possibleocial catholic support.[286]

Despite his caution about elements of liberation theology,Francis met with Gustavo Gutirrez, who is usually re-garded as its founder. Gutirrez had co-authored a bookwith Gerhard LudwigMller, prefect of the Congregationfor the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vaticans semiocialnewspaper L'Osservatore Romano said at the time that theliberation theology should not continue to be ignored.[288]

Pope Franciss beatication of Archbishop of El SalvadorOscar Romero, who was assassinated in March 1980 ashe said mass, as a martyr to the church is seen as Fran-

ciss strong support for the poor and those who defendthat stance.[289]

6.6 AbortionSee also: Catholic Church and abortion

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has been a vocalopponent of both the practice and legality of abortion.In May 2013, Francis unexpectedly participated in Italyspro-life march in Rome, asking its participants to protecthuman life from the moment of conception.[290] Also,as the mostly Catholic country of Ireland was preparinglegislation to legalize abortion, Francis sent a message tothe Irish asking them to protect the lives of both the un-born and the vulnerable people.[290] Also in May 2013,during a Wednesday audience Francis ocially blessedthe pro-life march in Szczecin, Poland, one of Europeslargest pro-life events and, speaking in Italian, encour-aged the Poles to defend the unborn. He maintained thathuman life should be respected all the way from concep-tion to the natural death.[291]

At a September 2013 meeting with Catholic gynecolo-gists, Francis condemned abortion saying that: Everychild that isn't born, but is unjustly condemned to beaborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of theLord.[292] He advised the gynecologists to invoke theconscience clause to refuse to perform abortions, if sorequested.[292]

Francis also thought, as a Cardinal, that the church shouldsupport the women who carry on with their pregnancy de-spite being a single parent, rejecting the option to abort.He maintained that, in those cases, priests should notrefuse to baptize those kids.[293] Pope Francis baptisedthe baby of an unmarried couple in the Sistine Chapelduring Baptism of the Lord mass at the Vatican.[294]

6.7 Ordination of womenSee also: Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination ofwomen

Francis spoke out often about the importance of womenin the Roman Catholic Church. He considers that theyhave a special role in spreading the faith to their childrenand grandchildren. He also considers that, although therst witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus were women,their signicance was ignored because for the Jewish lawof the time only males were credible witness.[295][296]

Erin Saiz Hanna of the Womens Ordination Conference,however, accused Francis of a selective use of evidence,as there would be other overlooked antecedents that maysupport the idea. She mentioned that the Pontical Bib-lical Commission had once concluded that there were noscriptural or theological problems with ordaining women,

16 6 TEACHINGS

and cited the attitude of Jesus towards women and theirleadership in the early church. She also suggested thathis rejection to the ordination of women may be at oddswith his tolerance of gay priests, mentioned in the sameinterview.[297]

Francis has addressed the subject of the ordination ofwomen a number of times.[298] Like Benedict XVI andJohn Paul II before him, he views women in the Church asspecial and fundamentally dierent from men, as theyprovide it with familial love. Despite this, in the opin-ion of Francis, all people in the Church should followthe teachings of the Magisterium given by the men whoare pope and bishops faithfully and obediently remain-ing loyal to the catechism.[299] Francis was non-committalabout whether women should lead more in administrationand pastoral activities,[300] but has ruled out the possibil-ity of female priests, citing discussions of the time of JohnPaul II.[301] Cardinal Timothy Dolan thinks female cardi-nals are a theoretical possibility because cardinals do notneed to be ordained.[302] Despite this, Francis ruled outfemale cardinals in December 2013.[302]

6.8 Clergy

Bishop Gabriel Barba and Pope Francis

Francis has criticized the perceived hunger of power ofsome sectors of the curia, which come at the expense of aproper religious life. He thinks that gossip is a danger tothe reputation of people, and that the presence of cliqueswithin organizations is a threat to both the individual andthe organization.[303] Francis thinks that priests should bein contact with the people as much as possible, and avoidisolation. He also suggests that priests should encour-age people to be optimistic.[304] He has been supportedby Rome bishops, priests, deacons and seminarians fromthe English-speaking world who attended the second in-ternational conference of the Confraternities of CatholicClergy.[305]

In September 2013, Pope Francis approved the excom-munication of Australian priest Greg Reynolds, the rstduring his papacy. He was accused of heresy and sac-rilegious treatment of the consecrated host. His public

preaching contradicting church teaching was also refer-enced in the letter of excommunication. A letter sent byMelbourne Archbishop Denis Hart to the priests of hisdiocese cited his support for the ordination of women andhis public celebration of the Eucharist when he did nothold faculties to act publicly as a priest. Reynolds saidthat his support of same sex marriage was also a factor,though not mentioned.[306]

6.8.1 Priestly celibacy

As a cardinal, Bergoglios views regarding the celibacyof priests were recorded in the book On Heaven andEarth, a record of conversations conducted with a BuenosAires rabbi.[307] He considers that celibacy is a matterof discipline rather than faith, and that tradition andexperience would advise to keep it.[27] He noted thatthe Byzantine, Ukrainian, Russian, and Greek CatholicChurches allow married men to be ordained priest, butnot bishop.[27][lower-alpha 7] He said that many of those inWestern Catholicism who are pushing for more discus-sion about the issue do so from a position of pragmatism,based on a loss of manpower.[27] He states that If, hypo-thetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issueof celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons(as in the East), not so much as a universal option.[27]He emphasized that, in the meantime, the rule must bestrictly adhered to, and any priest who cannot obey itshould leave the ministry.[27]

TheNational Catholic ReportersVatican analyst, ThomasJ. Reese, also a Jesuit, praised Bergoglios use of condi-tional language.[307] He said that phrases like for the mo-ment and for now are not the kind of qualicationsone normally hears when bishops and cardinals discusscelibacy.[307]

6.9 Articial contraception

The initial reports that Francis considered that the useof methods intended for contraception with the pur-pose of preventing disease might be permissible[308][309]were disputed by others who said he was unwaver-ingly orthodox on matters of sexual morality.[310] Be-fore becoming Pope he opposed the free distribution ofcontraceptives when it was introduced by the Kirchnergovernment.[311] Francis has armed Catholic doctrineon articial contraception but maintains responsible par-enthood is important. Francis suggested population ex-perts recommend three children in a family, and addedthat Christians do not need to breed in excess.[312] Fran-cis encourages natural family planning such as avoidingsexual intercourse when the woman is fertile.[313]

6.11 Religious persecution 17

6.10 HomosexualitySee also: Christianity and homosexuality

As bishop and Pope, Francis restated the Churchs prin-ciple: that homosexual practice is intrinsically immoral,but that every homosexual person should be treated withrespect and love.[314][315] He opposes same-sex marriage,including the 2010 Argentine bill to legalize it.[316][317]In July 2010, while the law was under consideration, hewrote a letter to Argentinas cloistered nuns in whichhe said the Argentine nuclear family could be seriouslyharmed. He thought that children would face discrimi-nation and lose the development that a father and mothergive.[316][318][319]

Lets not be naive: This is not a simple po-litical ght; it is a destructive proposal to Godsplan. This is not a mere legislative proposal(thats just its form), but a move by the fatherof lies that seeks to confuse and deceive thechildren of God ... Lets look to St. Joseph,Mary, and the Child to ask fervently that theydefend the Argentine family in this moment...May they support, defend, and accompany usin this war of God.

After L'Osservatore Romano reported this, several priestsexpressed their support for the law and one wasdefrocked.[320] Observers believe that the churchs op-position and Bergoglios language worked in favor ofthe laws passage and that in response, Catholic ocialsadopted amore conciliatory tone in later debates on socialissues such as parental surrogacy.[321]

Rubin, Bergoglios biographer, said that while taking astrong stand against same-sex marriage, Bergoglio raisedthe possibility in 2010 with his bishops in Argentina thatthey support the idea of civil unions as a compromiseposition.[322] According to one news report by The NewYork Times, a majority of the bishops voted to over-rule him.[322] Miguel Woites, the director of the CatholicNews Agency of Argentina, denied that Bergoglio evermade such a proposal,[323] but additional sources, includ-ing two Argentine journalists and two senior ocialsof the Argentine bishops conference, supported Rubinsaccount.[324]

Discussing homosexuals (people in general and clergy), inan interview on 28 July 2013, when answering a questionas to whether there was a gay lobby in the Vatican, theponti said, If someone is gay and is searching for theLord and has good will, then who am I to judge him? TheCatechism of the Catholic Church explains this in a beau-tiful way, saying ... wait a moment, how does it say it ...it says: no one should marginalize these people for this,they must be integrated into society.[325] According totwo gay rights activists, Marcelo Mrquez and AndrsAlbertsen, in private conversations with them, Bergoglio

expressed support for the spiritual needs of homosexualpeople and willingness to support measured actions ontheir behalf.[326] These remarks have been seen as an en-couraging change of tone from the papacy, so much sothat the American LGBT magazine The Advocate namedPope Francis their Person of the Year for 2013.[327]

On 5 January 2014, the Vatican denied that the Pontisupports gay unions.[328] In response to various Italiantabloid articles released in the media, Vatican spokesmanFather Federico Lombardi cited that various media mis-interpretations are paradoxical and manipulative inmisusing Pope Francis words noted in response to chil-dren growing up in non-traditional families.[329] The NewYork Times considers that Bergoglio may have supportedgay unions in Argentina only as a negotiated compromise,but that his context as a Pope is very dierent.[322] In2015, Pope Francis declared that the family is threat-ened by growing eorts on the part of some to redenethe very institution of marriage and suggested that same-sex marriage disgures Gods plan for creation.[330][331]The Ponti supported the Slovak referendum on banninggay marriage and gay adoption in an address to St Pe-ters square, stating I wish to express my appreciation tothe entire Slovak church, encouraging everyone to con-tinue their eorts in defense of the family, the vital cellof society.[332]

6.11 Religious persecution

Francis condemned persecution of religious minorities inIraq, some victims Christian. He did not mention IslamicState of Iraq and the Levant specically but is believedto have referred to it. Francis mentioned children dyingof hunger and thirst, kidnapped women, massacres andviolence of all kinds. In the opinion of Francis war andhatred cannot be carried out in the name of God. Francisthanked brave people bringing aid to those driven fromtheir homes. He condently expects an eective solutionto stop those crimes and return the area to the rule oflaw[333][334] and, in a break with Vatican tradition, sup-ports the use of force to stop Islamic militants from at-tacking religious minorities in Iraq.[335][336][337]

6.12 Capital punishment and life impris-onment

Pope Francis proposed the abolition of both capital pun-ishment and life imprisonment in a meeting with repre-sentatives of the International Association of Penal Law.He thinks that states should nd another way to protectpeople from aggression, and includes deaths caused bypolice brutality and extrajudicial punishment. He ac-cepted that the Church accepts it when there are no otheroptions to protect the people, but considers that nowa-days such cases may be minimal or even nonexistent. Healso thinks that life imprisonment, recently removed from

18 8 PUBLIC IMAGE

the Vatican penal code, is just a variation of the deathpenalty.[338]

7 Role in international diplomacyPope Francis played a key role in the talks toward restor-ing full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.The restoration was jointly announced by US PresidentBarack Obama and Cuban President Ral Castro onWednesday, 17 December 2014. The headline in theLos Angeles Times on 19 December 2014 was Bridge toCuba via Vatican, with the further lead In a rare andcrucial role, Pope Francis helped keep U.S. talks withHavana on track and guided nal deal.[339] The popewas a behind the scenes broker of the agreement, tak-ing the role following Obamas request during his visitto the pope in March 2014. The success of the nego-tiations was credited to Francis because as a religiousleader with the condence of both sides, he was able toconvince the Obama and Castro administrations that theother side would live up to the deal.[340] When the popevisits the United States in September 2015, he plans astop prior to it to Cuba. The plan comes amid a break-through for which Francis has received much credit.[341]The Cuba visit seals that accomplishment, in which heserved as a bridge between two erstwhile enemies.[342]According to one expert on religion in Latin America,Mario Paredes, the popes visit to Cuba is consistent withhis aim to promote an understanding of the role of theCuban Revolution and that of the Catholic Church. WhenFrancis was archbishop of Buenos Aires he authored atext entitled Dialogues Between John Paul II and FidelCastro.[342] John Paul was the rst pope to visit Cuba.In May 2015, the pope met with Cuban leader Ral Cas-tro. After the meeting in Vatican City on 10 May 2015,Castro said that he is considering returning to the RomanCatholic Church.[343] He said in a televised news confer-ence, I read all the speeches of the pope, his commen-taries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go backto praying and go back to the [Roman Catholic] church.I am not joking.[344] The pope plans to visit Cuba be-fore his September 2015 visit to the United States. Cas-tro said that when the pope comes, I promise to go to allhis Masses and with satisfaction.[345]

In December 2014, Pope Francis declined to meetwith the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in1989. According to a New York Times report, a Vaticanspokesman said Pope Francis obviously holds the DalaiLama in very high regard, but he will not be meeting anyof the Nobel [Peace] laureates.[346] This refusal has beeninterpreted as a success for China, which sees the DalaiLama as a major critic of the Chinese regime. The lastmeeting between the Dalai Lama and a pope was withBenedict XVI in 2006.[347]

In May 2014 his visit to Israel was heavily publicized.However, protests against his visit resulted in res in both

the Dormition Abbey and the Church of the Nativity. Seethe main article for more details Protests Against PopeFrancis Visit to Israel 2014.In May 2015, Pope Francis welcomed Palestinian pres-ident Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican. It was reportedthat Francis praised Abbas as an angel of peace, how-ever what he actually said was The angel of peace de-stroys the evil spirit of war. I thought about you: may yoube an angel of peace.[348] The Vatican is to sign a treatyrecognizing the state of Palestine. The Vatican issuedstatements concerning the hope that the peace talks couldresume between Israel and Palestinians. Abbass visit wason the occasion of the canonization of two Palestiniannuns.[349]

On June 6, 2015, Pope Francis visited Sarajevo, the cap-ital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[350]

8 Public imageSee also: List of places and things named after PopeFrancisPopularmainstreammedia frequently portray Pope Fran-

A grati image of Pope Francis in Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or,France.

cis either as a progressive papal reformer or with liberal,moderate values.[351] The Vatican has claimed that West-ern news outlets often seek to portray his message witha less-doctrinal tone of papacy, in hopes of extrapo-lating his words to convey a more merciful and toler-ant message.[352][353] In the news media, both faithfuland non-believers often refer to a honeymoon phase inwhich the Pope has changed the tone on Catholic doc-trines and supposedly initiated ecclesiastical reform in theVatican.[354][355][356]

In December 2013, both Time and The Advocate mag-azines named the Ponti as their Person of the Year inpraise and hopes of reforming the Roman Curia whilehoping to change the Catholic Churchs doctrine on var-ious controversial issues. In addition, Esquire magazinenamed him as the Best-dressed man for 2013 for his sim-pler vestments often in tune with a modern simplistic

19

design on sartorial fashion.[357] Rolling Stone magazinefollowed in January 2014 by making the Ponti theirfeatured front cover.[358][359] The magazine Fortune alsoranked Pope Francis as number No. 1 in their list of 50greatest leaders.[360] On 5 November 2014, he was listedamong the top 5 of Forbes most powerful people and wasranked at number 4 as the only non-political gure in thetop ranking.[361]

In March 2013, a new song was dedicated to Francis andreleased in Brazilian Portuguese, European Portugueseand Italian, titled Come Puoi (How You Can).[156] Alsoin March, Pablo Buera, the mayor of La Plata, Argentina,announced that the city had renamed a section of a streetleading up to a local cathedral Papa Francisco.[362] Thereare already eorts to name other streets after him, as wellas a school where he studied as a child.[362] A proposal tocreate a commemorative coin as a tribute to Pope Fran-cis was made in Argentinas lower house on 28 November2013. On the coins it would read, Tribute from the Ar-gentine People to Pope Francis. beneath his face.[363] Asof May 2013, sales of papal souvenirs, a sign of popular-ity, were up.[275]

The Canonization of Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II in2014

Pope Francis was scheduled to preside over his rstjoint public wedding ceremony in a Nuptial Mass for 20couples from the Archdiocese of Rome on Sunday, 14September 2014, just a few weeks before the start ofthe 519 October Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on theFamily. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI did not do this dur-ing his eight-year reign from 20052013; his predecessor,Pope Saint John Paul II, married a group of couples fromall over the world in 2000, as part of the Jubilee for Fam-ilies, and before that in 1994 during the Churchs Year ofthe Family, as well as presiding over a number of priva