Pope Francis

outhful enthusiasm and aspirations are the ever-flowing fountain and permanent foundation of future achievements. All great undertakings stem from humble beginnings. Greatness in one’s old age comes out of graciousness in one’s young age.

 Clarity about one’s future orientation is always a strength. A confused person can hardly become a blessing unto other people. Outer glory stems from inner clarity and interior strength. 

Every difficulty, every hardship, every painful experience and sorrowful memory contributes to and strengthens the life-journey. No experience is uninteresting in life; nothing is infinitely insignificant in life.  

 Every turning point in life has an intrinsic purpose, inner meaning, and a future orientation. Every crisis in life offers a grand opportunity. Crisis is a genesis. In this light, the early life of our Pope Francis can guide us to find our own meaning in our life-journey.

 As a teenager, Jorge Mario Bergoglio started pursuing a study course in chemistry at “Escuela Nacional de EducacionTecnica”(National School of Technical Education) and he tried to strike a balance between his studies and work. 

After earning a college diploma in chemistry, he had a plan to become a technical engineer. But human fate and future is mysterious and unpredictable. Nothing could be planned and organized in a neat manner. Even without his full awareness, his life was taking a different direction.



The Turning Point in Life
In 1953, barely 17 years old, he underwent a profound and shattering spiritual turning point in life. He, together with some of his close friends, planned to go on a picnic. On his way, he decided to go to Confession. The priest there at the church of San Jose de Flores was Fr. Duarte. 

As he was able to reflect on this incident fifty years later; 

“During that confession, something strange happened to me. I cannot say what it was, but it was something that changed my life. I could say that it was  as if I had been caught off guard…. From that moment onwards, God became for me the one who goes ahead. You do not seek him, He seeks you first.”
  As Blasé Pascal says, “We do not seek God had we not found Him.”God-experience in one’s life is the most crucial turning point. Once God becomes everything to us and in us, everything else becomes secondary and tertiary. God-centredness is the real centre and  anchor in life. 

 As a result of this unplanned encounter, he drastically changed his mind and thought of entering the priesthood by giving up his desire for marriage. The irony is that the same day he also had a plan to propose to a girl whom he had met at a wedding celebration at his uncle’s house. He chose God instead of a girl. Indeed God works in mysterious ways.  Loving God is the greatest love affair one can have and being loved by God is the greatest love one can possess.
 Choosing God is to be chosen by God and being chosen by God concretely means choosing God. This is a difficult task which can only be sustained by the torrents of divine grace. 



Social Involvement and Lasting Friendships
 He had always been interested in social work. There was a social outreach programme called, “Catholic Action” and he tried to be of help to others through its local branch. 

He also made a lot of friends during his spare time and developed a special love for tango dance. Although he was introverted, reticent, reflective and reserved, he could easily establish rapport with his fellow youth. He was shy, low-profile, unassuming but friendly and sympathetic. 

For his work ethics and studiousness, his father’s style, attitude and guidance had the deepest impact. This decisive experience made him appreciate the hard work one has to do in order to earn some money and avoid impulsive expenditure. 

It also helped him understand the heart-wrenching suffering and humiliation of unemployed people. Not only are we obliged to work but also we have a right to find a meaningful work. Unemployment leads to dehumanization and damages human creativity and dignity. No one can be deprived of meaningful work. Work adds meaning to life. To work is to live. No work means no life. 

 These are some of the hard lessons the young Jorge learnt and cherished for the rest of his life. All those tough experiences had contributed to his personal synthesis.

In his younger days, he became a voracious reader of Dante Alighieri, Alessandro Manzoni, Friedrich Holderlin and also communist literature. But he never embraced communist ideology, since it was atheistic in its philosophical orientation. 

 Although he had made a firm decision to pursue priesthood, he was not very sure about the religious congregation or diocese he was going to choose. With this intention in his heart, he continued to pray and discern for about four years. There was a life-and –death situation that happened in the midst of all these discernments.



Sickness as an Opportunity for Deeper Awareness
As Michael Collins elaborates what really happened:
“When he was 21, Jorge nearly lost his life. For several days he had felt unwell, with a rising temperature. His mother called a doctor to visit him at home. The doctor advised that he be admitted to hospital. Each day the doctors administered drugs and tried to discover what caused him shortness of breath. 
Finally the diagnosis was made. He was suffering from a severe form of pneumonia. Three cysts had appeared on the upper part of his lung. Not responding to conventional medication, the decision was made to operate. The right lung was severely affected and the surgeon removed the upper part of the organ. For three days the young man hung between life and death. Each day the lungs were drained and fresh bandages applied. The procedure to drain the lungs caused immense distress and pain.

One day, Jorge received a visit from Sr Dolores, the nun who had prepared him for his First Communion. She was deeply upset to see him in agony and explained to him that he was suffering like Jesus on the cross. These words proved an unexpected help to the young man on the verge of his maturity. While others wished him a speedy recovery, her words made sense.

Jorge continues his recuperation, even undertaking a journey to the plains of Tandil. His parents were relieved with their son’s progress and went on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the shrine of Our Lady of Lujan. They also presumed that he would continue with further studies in chemistry which would advance his career. When he returned home, Regina Maria[his mother] cleared out a small area in the upper story of the house, overlooking a small terrace. Here Jorge would be able to study in peace. As the eldest, Jorge was looked up to by his siblings. They were told to be quiet while he was studying and sent to play outside.  One day, while dusting the area, Jorge’s mother looked at the books her son was studying. She was surprised to find several books of theology. She had to wait until evening when he returned to confront him on his choice of reading material. When he returned that evening, she asked why he had lied to her.

‘I did not lie, Mama,’ replied Jorge. ‘I am studying medicine, but medicine of the soul.’

To his surprise, Regina Maria reacted badly to the news of her son’s vocation, realizing that soon he would leave home to study at a seminary. She continuously pleaded with him to delay his decision. He was she insisted, still young and immature. Jorge’s father was pleased with the news, as was his grandmother Rosa. According to Maria Elena [his sister], ‘Papa would have been pleased if we all had become nuns and priests!’ “



Finality and Irreversibility of a Decisive Decision
And finally he decided to enter the archdiocesan seminary Immaculada Concepcion. Although he  spent some years there, his heart continuously  longed for greater missionary adventures far and wide. Since he enjoyed working with young people, he also entertained becoming a Salesian missionary.  There was another reason for this desire. Young Jorge grew up with Salesian priests who were specially trained to work with young people. Fr. Lorenzo Massa, a Salesian priest, had a decisive influence on young Jorge. Fr. Massa also founded the San Lorenzo de Almagro football club of which Pope Francis has been a lifelong fan.  

He also learnt to play football and basketball and developed a lifelong passion for sports.  After spending three years at the diocesan seminary, he finally and firmly decided to become a Jesuit priest. The main reason for this was the enduring inspiration and influence he received from the Jesuit priests who assisted at the Immaculada Concepcion seminary.  As he revealed later, he was very much impressed by and attracted to the intellectual formation, sense of order, discipline and spiritual formation, dedication of the Society of Jesus.  By following the footsteps of great Jesuit missionary pioneers, he now dreamt of becoming a foreign missionary, perhaps being able to go to Japan where Jesuits had done pioneering missions. 

At the age of 22, he became a novice of the Jesuit seminary in Santiago, Chile. In 1959, he underwent his first shattering experience in life, when his father, all of a sudden, died of a heart attack. After this very painful experience in life, he thought of leaving the seminary in order to help financially his mother and siblings.

But going against this initial hesitation, he was determined to continue his seminary studies and pursue the priesthood and finally his iron will won the day.
 He was ordained to the priesthood on 13 December, 1969, at the age of 33, by Archbishop Ramon Jose Castellano.



Reference 
Michael Collins, Francis, Bishop Of Rome A Short Biography ;(The Columba Press, Dublin, 2013).