Issuu

FRANCIS

Andrea Tornielli

FRANCIS Pope of a New World

Translated by William J. Melcher

CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY LONDON IGNATIUS PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO

Cover photo Pope Francis Waves to the Crowd from the Balcony of St.Peter’s Basilica Wednesday, March 13, 2013 ©APPhoto / DmitryLovetsky Cover design by John Herreid © 2013 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco All rights reserved Published in the UK and Republic of Ireland 2013 by the Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, London ISBN:978-1-86082-872-0 www.CTSbooks.org Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CRO 4YY

To my mother, Eleonora

Contents

Foreword by Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J.

Introduction

1. Habemus Papam Franciscum

2. If a Pope Resigns because of Old Age

3. Padre Bergoglio’s Conclave

4. Risotto in the Bergoglio House

5. The Confession on September 21

6. A Priest under the Dictatorship

7. A Cardinal on the Subway

105

8. The Villas Miserias and “The Imperialism of Money”

122

9. Francis, the Reasons for a Name

135

10. What the Pope Will Be

153

11. A Life “Transﬁxed” by God’s Look of Love

170

Foreword by Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J.

In my adult years as a priest, the Chair of Peter has been filled four times. The election of John Paul I evoked the usual joy of having a new Holy Father and the hope that the Church might find stability at a time of theological and liturgical turmoil. However, I did not feel particular engagement with the new pope. The shock thirty days later when he died actually made a deeper impression on me than had his election. The election of his successor got my attention, and I remember well that a radio was broadcasting in the background as I studied, waiting for the announcement of a new pope. When the newscaster said that Karol Wojtyła of Kraków, Poland, was now Pope John Paul II, I raced down the three flights of stairs, perhaps touching a few of them as I ran, carrying a box of chocolates to pass out on the ix

francis: pope of a new world street as I gleefully announced to every passerby, “The new pope is Polish!” Excitement that a Pole had been chosen swelled my heart with ethnic pride and joy, making Polish jokes and slurs in the past fade into insignificance. However, the twenty-seven-year reign far exceeded ethnic hopes, as his vigor captured everyone’s attention and a whole new approach to philosophy and theology fired an enthusiasm for the truth of the Catholic faith. From his first year as pope, vocations began to increase and a generation of clergy, religious, and laity would be known as the John Paul II generation. Dissidents on the theological right and left huddled among themselves as Catholicism swelled to a new force in the modern world under John Paul’s leadership. In 2005, I watched the advance of Pope Benedict XVI to Saint Peter’s balcony with a deeper joy, since it meant that another extraordinary teacher would continue to guide the Church, leaving theological and liturgical confusion farther behind. He focused on Jesus Christ as he quietly, humbly led the Church forward, retaining the love and allegiance of the John Paul generation. Pope Benedict’s retirement came as a jolt but not as a total surprise. His age had advanced, and his strength had waned. This book presents many key insights into Pope Benedict’s retirement, and every Catholic will appreciate the mature assessment of a x

foreword decision that raised much speculation and less wisdom from various pundits inside and outside the Church. In 2013, the election of Pope Francis evoked another kind of pride—a fellow Jesuit, the ﬁrst one in history, had been elected pope. Certainly Jesuits had spoken of him, since he was not only an archbishop in an important archdiocese, Buenos Aires, Argentina, but also a cardinal. The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus prohibit Jesuits from seeking to be bishops, but the pope can override that rule and choose a Jesuit to belong to the college of bishops, as happened to Father Jorge Bergoglio, S.J. Vague rumors circulated that he was a papabile after John Paul II died, but most Jesuits I knew dismissed them with the generally accepted assumption that a Jesuit would never be pope. I remembered him from 2005, but I thought he might be past the age being sought for a new pope in 2013, since so many people were speaking about the importance of a young pope for the modern world. However, neither his age nor his being a Jesuit hindered him, and Jorge Bergoglio, S.J., walked out on the balcony of Saint Peter’s as Pope Francis. As I watched this drama develop, my pride was not exuberant, as when the Pole Karol Wojtyła emerged, but quiet. I stood in the EWTN studio with Franciscan friars, cameramen, fellow hosts waiting to comment, and visitors who formed an xi

francis: pope of a new world audience. Their congratulations to me as a Jesuit could not change my silence; text messages began pouring into my phone, but it was not a time to accept congratulations, especially since I had done nothing but follow the gift of my Jesuit vocation as Pope Francis had done even longer than I. A peaceful joy deepened as this new pope’s personality unfolded before the crowd in Saint Peter’s Square, the whole world, and us in the studio. His simple “Good evening”, his light comments about being the Bishop of Rome, and especially his bow toward us, that we all might pray for him and bless him before he blessed us for the ﬁrst time as pope, were a triumph of quiet joy. This moment was followed by many small moments of making ordinary actions quite uncommon—riding a bus with the cardinals, praying alone at Saint Mary Major, stopping to pay his bill in person at a Rome hotel for priests, calling the man who delivered his papers in Buenos Aires to cancel the subscription, meeting with the Jesuit Father General Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., to accept his offer of Jesuit support to the new pope, and the Pope’s extension of his apostolic blessing to all Jesuits and those who work with them. These moments stream forth from him, making his ofﬁce yet more amazing. Where does all this come from in Pope Francis? What led to the election of a Latin American Jesuit xii

foreword as pope? What is the background against which his first papal acts find their context? Certainly his family is essential, and in this book we get a first glimpse of the people who raised him and their attitudes toward his Jesuit vocation. We learn how the Lord called him from his first career choice to a Jesuit vocation that could incorporate those same talents in ministry rather than career. We will understand the development of his Jesuit life in a period of turmoil and change in the Church and during extraordinarily difficult political circumstances, as the Argentinian government swung to the violent right and a secular left that opposed Church teaching. What were the constants in Padre Jorge Bergoglio’s ministry and service as a Jesuit and as an archbishop in violent, horrible times? These questions are addressed in this book. In addition, there is invaluable background on Pope Benedict’s resignation and the process of electing Pope Francis. May this knowledge of Pope Francis’ past and background enlighten every reader, not so much as to make the new pope predictable within the confines of the categories stemming from his personal history, but to provide a context for the new surprises he seems capable of offering to the Church and to the modern world as a whole.

xiii

Introduction “I ask you to pray for me . . .”

On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, after having witnessed the black smoke in the late morning and eaten my usual meal of vegetables and grilled calamari with my colleagues at Roberto’s restaurant along the Passetto di Borgo, I left the Vatican to return to the editorial ofﬁces of La Stampa on the via Barberini. Ever since newspapers became multimedia websites as well, print journalists have also had to do live television broadcasts and audio-video service. “If there is white smoke this evening,” the boss had told me, “we must immediately do a live streaming broadcast and commentary on the announcement . . .” The cardinals had been shut up in the Vatican for about a day, without any possibility of communicating with the outside; the forecasts of the newspapers and of the various purple-robed prelates spoke about a “difﬁcult” and “uncertain” 1

francis: pope of a new world conclave, which would certainly be longer than the one in 2005 that had elected Joseph Ratzinger. For lack of a strong candidate like the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith eight years ago, one capable of galvanizing a consensus, the selection of the 266th Bishop of Rome would therefore be longer and more laborious. And yet that very day a dear friend and colleague of mine, Gerard O’Connell, had forewarned me: “In my opinion, there could be a pope this evening . . .” That morning I had left the house with a little book in my bag: El Jesuita, the book-length interview with the Cardinal of Buenos Aires written by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti. Of all the papabili in the conclave, Cardinal Bergoglio was the one I knew best. I had interviewed him only once, in February 2012, for Vatican Insider, a thematic website of La Stampa, but for several years I had had the opportunity to meet him during his rare trips to Rome. I had spoken several times with him about the life of the Church. I had become acquainted with and even hosted in my house in Rome Padre Pepe, one of his priests who proclaim the Gospel in the villas miserias, the shanty-towns of Buenos Aires. What always struck me about Bergoglio was his profound faith vision, his humility, his words, which were able to reach people’s hearts and help them receive the embrace of God’s mercy. On occasion I 2

introduction have submitted to him articles or reﬂections published on my blog, but I have also asked him for prayers. At the end of every encounter, his unfailing request was: “Pray for me, I ask you to pray for me . . .” Since I live, when in Rome, next door to my lifelong friends Gianni Valente and Stefania Falasca, I have also been able to witness the ties of friendship between their family and Padre Bergoglio. I, too, have been able to listen to his stories, his experiences as a pastor, his encounters with the faithful who have loved him so much, because in him they recognize one of themselves: someone who came to serve and not to lord it over them. A man who came to share, not merely to exercise a sacred authority. Someone who came to attract with his merciful smile, not to “regulate the faith”. A man who came to facilitate their encounter with Jesus. Nearness, mercy, gentleness, patience: these are the words of Father Bergoglio—a pastor who has related that his greatest sorrow as a bishop was to learn that “some priests do not baptize the children of unwed mothers because they were not conceived within the sanctity of marriage.” I had seen him extremely calm in the days leading up to the conclave. “At night I sleep like a baby”, he had conﬁded to Gianni and Stefania. He had told us that he had already prepared his homily for Holy 3

francis: pope of a new world Thursday, which he would read upon returning to Buenos Aires; he had spoken to us about his return flight, already booked for March 23, and about an appointment with the Jewish community that he did not want to miss. “I must return to my Spouse”, he kept saying, referring to his diocese with a smile on his face—this bishop who truly considered the Church of Buenos Aires as a wife, loving and serving her in everything and in everyone, starting with the poorest. These were not the kind of remarks that are made almost superstitiously by someone who is trying to exorcise an impending responsibility. These were stories about the life of a simple man. Yet never before, it seemed to me in the days leading up to the start of the conclave, had I noticed in Cardinal Bergoglio such serenity and abandonment to the will of God, whatever the plan he was preparing might be. Maybe that was also why, on the afternoon of March 13, as soon as I arrived at the office, I began to write precisely about him, while listening several times with headphones to a musical selection that I find particularly relaxing, the famous Canon in D Major by Pachelbel, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. It so happened once that I heard it performed on the harp while I was with Padre Bergoglio and other friends. Then, at 4:05 p.m., after a gull had repeatedly perched on the copper chimney 4

introduction coping on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, lo and behold, the very ﬁrst puffs of white smoke. They had elected a pope. Together with my colleague Paolo Mastrolilli, I had to conduct a live streaming video session for the website of La Stampa. We waited for the announcement while telling web-surfers what was about to happen. When Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran had pronounced the prophetic words, “Habemus Papam” and began to pronounce the initial syllable “Geo . . .” of Georgium, I shouted: “Bergoglio!” I began to tell something about him, about his life, his story, his way of being a bishop, his simplicity and humility, his critique of the “spiritual worldliness” of the Church. “How did you manage to keep from crying during the live broadcast? We were all crying . . .”, my wife asked me from Milan, via Skype, when I was ﬁnally able to listen to her. The simplicity of Pope Francis, his profound gesture of bowing his head to receive the blessing invoked on him by his people, his spontaneous greeting—“Buona sera”, “Good evening”—and the fact that he continued to be himself and nothing more, even as Bishop of Rome and Pontiff, made an impression on the hearts of millions of believers. He did not want the red mozzetta 共cape兲 lined with ermine or the red shoes. He did not want to change his poor iron cross or his very modest ring. 5

francis: pope of a new world The day afterward, he went to pray before the image of Maria Salus populi romani 共Mary, Welfare of the Roman people兲 at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major without being accompanied by the pomp of a retinue or by an impressive security detail, which too often runs the risk of making the Bishop of Rome, a pastor, appear in the eyes of the faithful like the president of a superpower. Father Bergoglio, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, the first to take for himself the name of the great Saint of Assisi, with his little yet grand gestures and his words, at the dawn of his pontificate, is already making people understand what it means today to profess Jesus Christ. “Let us never yield to pessimism,” he said while meeting the cardinals in the Sala Clementina, “let us never yield to that bitterness which the devil offers us every day; let us not yield to pessimism or discouragement: let us be quite certain that the Holy Spirit bestows upon the Church, with his powerful breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, so as to bring the Gospel to the uttermost ends of the earth.” And on the evening of March 13, the world had a clear testimony to it.

1 Habemus Papam Franciscum

Saint Peter’s Square is an enormous expanse of open umbrellas. Thousands of people, braving the cold and the rain, had been waiting for hours for the copper chimney of the Sistine Chapel to give the expected response. On the first evening, at 4:30 p.m., the long, impressive procession of 115 purplegarbed prelates, the electors of the conclave that had been called to appoint the successor of Benedict XVI, filed from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine. After the oath 关of secrecy兴 and the meditation presented by Cardinal Prosper Grech, the cardinals voted for the first time. Even though a result of black smoke was taken for granted, many, many people had gathered with their noses held high, waiting to know the outcome. The abundant billows of raven-colored smoke confirmed that the electors had decided to start immediately with the ballots. And, as was to 7

francis: pope of a new world be expected, none of them had won the seventyseven votes necessary, equivalent to two-thirds. On Wednesday, March 13, after an initial whitish puff, the smoke at midday had been grayishblack, too, following the two ballots of the morning, that is, the second and third votes of the conclave. In this case, too, a rather predictable outcome. In the last hundred years, only Eugenio Pacelli had been elected on the third ballot, in March 1939. 共At that time, war was imminent, and the cardinals hastily chose Pope Ratti’s faithful Secretary of State.兲 Outside, the crowds, both of the media and of the faithful and the curious, were wondering what was going on beneath the roof of the Sistine Chapel, in front of that dramatic, stupendous fresco of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo. Or what was happening among the cardinals during lunch in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where they were staying. As of that afternoon, an election began to become more likely, despite the predictions of a long, difficult conclave. For Joseph Ratzinger, in April 2005, it had happened that way. He had been elected on the fourth ballot. That afternoon, however, the first vote, too, had been inconclusive. There had been no sign of white smoke between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. And so this meant that the cardinals had continued with another vote, the fourth of the day, the fifth of the conclave. The 8

habemus papam franciscum smoke, either white or black, was expected around 7:00 p.m. A few minutes before then, a seagull had perched on top of the chimney, and he had been seen to remain there, immobile, for more than half an hour, appearing also on the four big screens positioned on the square in front of the Vatican Basilica. “That is not a good sign,” said one priest, “because the bird that symbolizes the Spirit is the dove, certainly not the seagull. It means they have not yet decided.” And yet there was something that people were paying attention to. A growing expectation for which there was no external or human reason. At 7:05 p.m., white smoke that was at ﬁrst almost transparent and then increasingly dense and immaculate began to issue from the chimney, a visible sign alerting the crowd, which started to applaud. The pope was elected, even though the world still did not know his name and his face. At last, at that very moment, it stopped raining. The wait seemed endless. Then, ﬁnally, the great curtains of the central loggia 共balcony兲 of Saint Peter’s opened, and the Cardinal Proto-Deacon Jean-Louis Tauran appeared before the crowd to announce the name of the newly elected pope: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, habemus Papam, Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum Georgium Marium, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio, qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum.” 9

francis: pope of a new world “Georgium Marium” would have been enough to understand that the man elected was the Cardinal of Buenos Aires, a Jesuit archbishop born in that city seventy-six years before, of a family of emigrants from the Piedmont. The name was unknown, and, at ﬁrst, the people remained somewhat disconcerted. 共 Just as on another evening, that of October 16, 1978, when Cardinal Pericle Felici announced to the faithful that the new pope was Karol Wojtyła.兲 Padre Bergoglio, then. Everyone was expecting a young pontiff, and instead the cardinals had turned around and chosen one who was already old. Many were making predictions about the “Italian pope”, and instead the new Bishop of Rome arrived from the Southern Hemisphere of the world, from a far-off land. After retracing in the opposite direction the voyage that his family had made in 1929 when they embarked at the port of Genoa. Anyone who knows Bergoglio, his stature, his episcopate, immediately perceived the import of the event. This was made evident also by his choice of name: Francis. Upon hearing that name, the crowd burst into resounding applause. A Jesuit pope who took the name of the Poverello of Assisi, founder of the Franciscans. A sign of change, of a turning point. The call to be radically evangelical, a poor Church that journeys, builds, and professes Christ cruciﬁed, “the one Savior of all mankind and of all men”. 10

habemus papam franciscum A few more minutes passed, and lo and behold, the new pope appeared. It was only 8:10 p.m. For the ﬁrst time in history, before the newly elected pope went out onto the balcony, a snippet of video by the Vatican Television Center showed Francis clothed in white vestments while waiting at the window. The pontiff was not wearing the red mozzetta lined with ermine that had been prepared, nor did he have the stole over his shoulders. Later we would learn that he did not want to use that regal garment trimmed with fur. The pectoral cross was not changed; it was the one that Jorge Mario Bergoglio always carried with him. It is made of plain metal, not gold. It is not set with any precious stones. The new pope emerged, surrounded by masters of ceremony and several cardinals; he wanted to have at his side the Vicar of Rome, Agostino Vallini. No sooner had he come out than he made a sign of greeting by raising his right hand, and then he remained immobile, looking toward the square. Without saying a thing, while the crowd applauded and shouted “Viva il papa!” Then ﬁnally he spoke and said: “Brothers and sisters, good evening . . .” A simple greeting, which recalled the last words of Benedict XVI, pronounced a moment before going back into the papal palace of Castel Gandolfo to remain “hidden from the world”. 11

francis: pope of a new world Francis continued: “You know that it was the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one . . . but here we are . . . I thank you for your welcome. The diocesan community of Rome now has its Bishop. Thank you! And first of all, I would like to offer a prayer for our Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI. Let us pray together for him, that the Lord may bless him and that Our Lady may keep him.” He did not describe himself as pope, but recalled at first that he is Bishop of Rome, as, incidentally, John Paul II had done in his first appearance after his election. The pope is pope because he is Bishop of Rome, and not vice versa, as some individuals who exalt the splendor of the papal court sometimes seem to forget. Pope Bergoglio underscored this special, particular bond with the Church of the Eternal City. He was a bishop who spoke to the members of his diocese before addressing the world. Then, right afterward, Francis invited the people to pray for his predecessor, and together with the faithful he recited the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory be. He had the people pray, he had them recite the most frequently used prayers in the Christian faith. “And now,” he began to speak again after finishing the three prayers, “we take up this journey: Bishop 12

habemus papam franciscum and People. This journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches. A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity. It is my hope for you that this journey of the Church, which we start today, and in which my Cardinal Vicar, here present, will assist me, will be fruitful for the evangelization of this most beautiful city.” It was the moment for the blessing, the ﬁrst apostolic blessing; the new pope had just asked the people to be blessed. He asked the people to pray for God’s blessing on their new bishop. An entirely new and unheard-of request, which sees the laity as playing a leading role, the people of God with their prayer for their new pastor. “And now I would like to give the blessing, but ﬁrst I ask a favor of you: before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me.” Francis bowed his head, then spoke again and said: “Now I will give the Blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will.” He put on the papal stole over his white habit and bestowed the blessing in Latin, granting the plenary 13

francis: pope of a new world indulgence “Urbi et Orbi” 共to the City and to the World兲. Then, after saluting with a hand gesture, he asked for the microphone again and concluded: “Thank you for your welcome. Pray for me. And until we meet again. We will see each other soon. Tomorrow I wish to go and pray to Our Lady, that she may watch over all of Rome. Good night and sleep well!” Having left the apostolic palace to return to Santa Marta, the Pope found himself in front of the big black car with the license plate “SCV 1” 关Vatican City State #1兴. But Francis did not take it. “I’ll get on the bus with the cardinals . . .” He would do the same the following morning to return to the Sistine Chapel to concelebrate Mass with the purple-robed prelates. They say that at dinner there was a festive, relaxed atmosphere. The Church ﬁnally had a new pope. The hundred fourteen temporary “prisoners” of the conclave had chosen a “prisoner” for life, the one who was to remain in the Vatican. Francis, greeting his confreres after dinner, looked at them and said, “May God forgive you for what you have done.” That same evening, the new pope telephoned the bishop emeritus, Benedict XVI. It is not the only telephone call he made. Francis also called some Roman friends at their home. And he immediately sent a message to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo 14

habemus papam franciscum Di Segni: “On this day of my election as Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church, I send you my cordial greetings, informing you that the solemn inauguration of my pontificate will take place on Tuesday, March 19. Trusting in the protection of the Most High, I strongly hope to be able to contribute to the progress of the relations that have existed between Jews and Catholics since Vatican Council II in a spirit of renewed collaboration and in service of a world that may always be more in harmony with the Creator’s will.” Francis began the first day of his pontificate as usual, rising very early to pray for a long time before the tabernacle. Then, as he had announced the previous evening, he intended to pray to Our Lady to keep and protect the Diocese of Rome. A little before eight, he appeared in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major for a private visit. In the large chapel in the left nave of the oldest church dedicated to Our Lady is preserved the image of Salus Populi Romani. The new pope entered, holding in one hand a bunch of flowers, and stopped to pray before the Marian icon. Then he went to the altar, beneath which is preserved a relic of the manger of the Nativity. Then to a chapel that is also called Sistine, to the altar where Saint Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his First Mass one Christmas Eve: it is a place fraught with symbolism for the Jesuits. Francis then prayed at the 15

francis: pope of a new world tomb of Saint Pius V, the pope of the Battle of Lepanto and of the Mass of the old rite—the Dominican pontiff, the one who inaugurated the tradition of white as the color for papal vestments because he wanted to keep his Dominican religious habit. After praying, Francis met the staff, the cardinals present, and the Dominican confessors. “Mercy, mercy, mercy . . .” This was his invitation to them as he greeted them one by one. “You are confessors, and therefore be merciful to souls. They need it”, he added. The new pope arrived in a car belonging to the Vatican police, not with the papal limousine. And he had an escort that was reduced to the minimum. The evening of his election, he had tried to speak with the director of the Domus Sacerdotalis Paulus VI, the house for clergy at via della Scrofa 70 in Rome, where he usually resided during his visits to the capital and where he had stayed for the two weeks before the conclave. On the days of the General Congregations, he always went on foot, both to and from. The Pope notiﬁed the director that he would come by to pick up his luggage and his personal effects and to pay the bill. And so it was. Francis arrived in the former palace just a few steps from the Piazza Navona accompanied by the Prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and, looking at their dismayed expressions, which seemed to 16

habemus papam franciscum be trying to tell him, “Your Holiness, you are joking, you are really not going to pay?”, he explained to them: “Precisely because I am the pope I must set an example.” Then he decided to go up to the room personally to collect his things, and he packed his suitcase himself. As he was accustomed to doing, incidentally, on every trip. Because Jorge Mario Bergoglio was always a bishop without a secretary. The pope who refuses the big sedan and the retinue, who prefers to ride with his “brother cardinals”, who does not let anyone put ermine-trimmed garments on him, who does not think that he has risen to such a height as to prevent him from packing his bags himself and from demanding to pay the bill at the clergy house, like any other guest. So many little major signs. Today’s world requires the Church to witness to the Gospel more by her life than by her words. And it should be normal for a Christian to behave with sobriety, with simplicity. Some displays of the Church Triumphant perhaps had signiﬁcance in the past. Certainly today they appear out of date and not in keeping with modern sensibilities. And in some cases, they even run the risk of giving a contrary witness. Instead of bringing people closer, they drive them away. Pope Francis, by being himself through and through, attracts. As proved by the extraordinary reaction of so many, many people in the world who are 17

francis: pope of a new world struck and fascinated by his extraordinary ordinariness and by his simplicity. “Surely this pope will create an unprecedented problem for Vatican security”, commented the Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office. He immediately added, however, “But those responsible for security are at the service of the Holy Father and know that they must adapt to his pastoral style.” The pope is not the one who has to adapt to certain exaggerated displays that in the name of security ran the risk of keeping Benedict XVI in a cage during the final years of his pontificate. The entourage are the ones who have to adapt to the style of the pontiff. A pontiff who is Bishop of Rome and who intends to establish a special relationship with his city and diocese.