Annuntio vobis
gaudium magnum
Habemus Papam!
A Church that will not stay still, a non-static Church, we
can be sure that this will be the church of Pope Francis.
This has always set Bergoglio apart.
A great Jesuit, a man of excellent formation, above all,
he is a man of action.
If we read Pope Francis' writings we're going to always
see this concern with going to the frontiers of poverty,
of exclusion and of those who are furthest from God.
He was always a person who had a lot of courage and plenty of
bravery to stand before the powerful and say what he
thought; the voice of those who had no voice;
that was Cardinal Bergoglio.
A man who is kind of a desert saint and a great
and brilliant administrator.
The combination of these two characteristics is
not very common.
Pope Francis, whose life has been exemplary in precisely
the type of personal witness that the new
evangelization calls for.
He becomes the model for millions of Catholics around
the world today.
To understand the accusations we must trace the rise
of Pope Francis.
On April 22, 1973, Father Bergoglio took his final vows
as a Jesuit.
He had spent more than 15 years in formation.
During these years, he witnessed the historic rise and fall of
Juan and Eva Peron, and learned well the fleeting nature
of political power.
By this time, despite the fact that he was just 36 years old,
he had so impressed his fellow Jesuits, that he was named
Provincial Superior for all of Argentina.
But the young priest faced steep challenges.
It was a difficult time, because in 1973,
we had four Presidents.
In 1976, the military took over the government.
So Bergoglio was the provincial during one of the most difficult
periods in the history of Argentina.
Bergoglio was also challenged by changes within the church.
A growing number of priests and theologians in Latin America
began to see liberation through political, economic
and social revolution.
In its most extreme interpretation, liberation
theology served to justify guerilla movements with
Marxist revolutionary ideas.
Bergoglio guided his priests away from
politics and confrontation.
Nevertheless, political violence sometimes struck too
close to home.
The new military dictatorship under General Videla was opposed
by Marxist guerilla groups and labor unions.
The Junta set out to ruthlessly eliminate its enemies.
The ensuing violence became known as the "Dirty War,"
and tore the nation apart.
Horacio Verbitsky claimed that during the 1976 kidnapping of
two Jesuit priests, Bergoglio turned a blind eye since he
disagreed with their political involvement.
They couldn't accept the rules that Bergoglio set
as a superior.
They had to leave the area where they were staying because he
could not guarantee their safety in the face of the many dangers
involving the kidnappings of people during
the military dictatorship.
But they did not agree, and they decided to leave the Society of
Jesus, to stop being Jesuits and continue their pastoral
and political activities.
Shortly after, they were kidnapped by the military forces
and were imprisoned and tortured.
Bergoglio got the chaplain who served the dictator to call in
sick so that he could go to see the dictator himself and
personally appeal for the release of those Jesuits.
One of the kidnapped priests, Father Francisco Jalics,
has himself denied the allegations saying, quote:
"The fact is, Orlando Yorio and I were not denounced
by Father Bergoglio."
He did a lot of things behind the scenes, undercover, to try
to help people.
One story where he gave his clothing and his ID to someone
who is being chased by the military so that guy could get
across the border and out of the country.
He was basically trying to help people from a
humanitarian stand point.
His years as Jesuit Provincial, followed by a period as Rector
of Theology and Philosophy at the Colegio Maximo de San Jose,
would reveal the character and leadership of the future Pope.
I think that if there is a theme that becomes underlined,
it is his mercy.
Bergoglio is capable of forgiving the things that
perhaps we would not forgive.
He was a spiritual man.
A man who prayed a lot.
When we would get up at 6:30 or 7:00 to go to mass, at this time
Bergoglio had already prayed and had laundered the bedding and
towels for 150 Jesuits.
He would have taken them out, hung them up to dry,
and we would just be trying to get out of bed.
He taught us how to be real friends,
not just co-workers, friends.
We have to love each other.
We have to stand together especially in the
most difficult moments.
He was very intelligent.
He was academic and studious, but above all he had
an intuitive intelligence.
He could read people immediately, and he would see
through you and you couldn't hide things from him.
And with that, he would help you.
He taught us the human dimension of the apostolate,
of the mission, I can't get the faith across to a boy,
if that boy is hungry.
I was doing the spiritual exercises and on the fourth day,
he called me and said that I was very comfortable praying,
sleeping and eating.
At the door there is a woman with four children without
shelter so stop your retreat and find them shelter.
Once they have a house, you can go back to praying."
We came back after we completed the mission,
the mission in which he intervened directly.
He knew how to help people and he knew which doors to knock on
to find them help.
In 1986, Father Bergoglio traveled to Germany to further
his theological studies.
Upon his return to Argentina, he was sent to Cordoba where
he humbly served the Jesuit community as confessor
and spiritual director.
No one predicted High Church Office in his future.
However, his humility caught the attention of Cardinal
Antonio Quarracino of Buenos Aires.
In 1992, he appointed Father Bergoglio Auxiliary Bishop.
Five years later, Bergoglio would succeed as Archbishop and
become the spiritual leader of the city he loved.
As a Bishop, he had received a big house, very beautiful.
And he went all through the house, and found it full of
items such as blankets, non-perishable food.
So, what did he do?
He went out with these items and gave them away.
He was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, the highest authority of
the church in Argentina, and the first surprising impression was
that he answered his own phone, without secretaries.
This was so shocking that the foreign colleagues asked me,
"But are you sure he's the Cardinal?"
Could it be his assistant?"
We have all bumped into him in the streets of Buenos Aires,
I saw him on the subway more than one time and
we would talk.
He is a man that has never owned a car when he was Archbishop and
never accepted a taxi or a car ride anywhere because he would
say, "The public ways of transportation allow me to meet
people and understand what they are going through."