Remembering Pope Francis
Yesterday morning the world woke up to the sad news of the death of Pope Francis after the Vatican issued a statement which included the touching words …“At 7.35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.” The 88-year-old pontiff had passed away after months of ill-health and a hospital battle with double pneumonia.
Most popes are interred in the grottoes under St Peter’s, and since Pope Leo XIII’s burial at Saint John Lateran in 1903 every pope has been buried at St Peter’s. However, Pope Francis confirmed in his final testament that he wished to be buried in in a ‘simple’ tomb in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. He chose always to pray at this basilica before and after trips overseas and made more than a 100 visits to the fifth-century church. He has also requested that his resting place simply bear the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
On a death certificate released last night, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said Francis died of a stroke and irreversible heart failure adding that the pontiff fell into a coma before his death. Italian newspapers La Republica and La Stampa both reported that he woke up when his alarm went off at 6am yesterday, fell ill at 7am and died at approximately 7.30am. His death came one day after he greeted thousands in Saint Peter’s Square after Easter Mass in his open-air popemobile. First elected in March 2013 as the 266th pope, his death now prompts the centuries – old process of choosing his successor.
Beginnings and Progression
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936, the first of five children. His parents were Italian immigrants, and his father worked on the railways. As a teenager a serious infection meant he had to have surgery to remove a lung – a procedure that likely would have been avoided today, thanks to advances in antibiotics. Described as a simple and shy boy, he did however during his time as a student work as a doorman in a nightclub. His wages there helped him to graduate as a Consultant Chemist after which he took up a short period of employment in this field.
His religious turning point came the age of 22 when he moved into the seminary in Villa Devoto to pursue a priestly life. On 11 March 1958 he began his novitiate in the Society of Jesus, spending a period in Chile and returning to Buenos Aires for a degree in Philosophy in 1960. In 1964 he taught Literature and Psychology in the Colegio de la Inmaculada in Santa Fe and in 1966 in the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires. From 1967 to 1970 he studied Theology at the Philosophical and Theological faculty in Buenos Aires, where he graduated. On 13 December 1969 he was ordained a priest. After several teaching experiences and his appointment as provincial Superior of Argentina (1973 to 1979) he became rector of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at San Miguel. Before taking up this new appointment, he spent the first three months of 1980 in Ireland to learn English, staying at the Jesuit Centre at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Ranelagh, south Dublin.
These were very difficult years for Argentina which was stifled by a merciless dictatorship. It was difficult also for the Church, that felt a duty to support the oppressed classes, but that sometimes found itself being subjected to the power and blackmail of the military.
Francis spoke openly about his battle with anxiety during these terrible times. In 2021, he detailed how he seen a psychiatrist in his native Argentina as a young priest after struggling with anxiety due to helping people flee the country during the nation’s military dictatorship. Francis told Argentinian media: “Imagine what it was like to have someone hidden in the car – covered only by a blanket – and go through three military checkpoints…the stress it caused me was enormous.” He said he saw the psychiatrist for about six months, adding that he had also found listening to music by Bach a good coping mechanism.
On 20 May 1992 Pope John Paul II appointed him Titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires. On 28 February 1989 he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires. On 21 February 2001 the pope ordained him Cardinal of the title of St Robert Bellarmine. During his trip to Rome for the ceremony, he and his sister María Elena visited their father’s hometown in the north of Italy.
After the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Bergoglio reportedly received the second- highest number of votes in the papal conclave to elect a new pontiff. On that occasion it was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who emerged as the chosen leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Seven years later Cardinal Jorge’s time came and now his pilgrim journey on earth is over.
May he Rest in Peace