Francis

I was able to watch the live feed from Vatican television today after it became widely known that white smoke emerged from the copper flue atop the Sistine Chapel announcing the selection of the 266th leader of the Catholic Church. Cries of “Habemus Papam” were audible amidst clapping, singing, praying, and other happy noises from the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elevated by his peers to the papacy and he was introduced as Pope Francis. It is a surprise that His Holiness is the first to choose Francis as his papal name especially with the renown of St. Francis of Assisi among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Much has been written of St. Francis of Assisi: his early privilege, long and difficult conversion, imprisonment, the charge to “repair my Church” at San Damiano, and his reported ability to communicate with animals are among the most known stories. No doubt a colorful, interesting, blessed individual whose feast day (October 4) takes special meaning to the Franciscan orders.

For more information on Francis of Assisi, see St. Francis of Assisi.

I certainly have no inside information, but I suspect that Pope Francis may also be inspired by other saints bearing the name Francis – especially the humility of St. Francis Borgia (1510 - 1572), a Jesuit like the Pope. From Catholic Online (see St. Francis Borgia): 

St. Francis Borgia

Francis was a young nobleman at the court of the King of Spain. He became a Duke when he was only thirty-three and lived a happy, peaceful life with his wife Eleanor and their eight children. But unlike so many other powerful nobles, Francis was a perfect Christian gentleman, a true man of God and his great joy was to receive Holy Communion often. This happy life ended when his beloved wife died. Francis did something that astonished all the nobles of Spain; he gave up his Dukedom to his son Charles and became a Jesuit priest. So many people came to his first Mass that they had to set up an altar outdoors, but his Superior tested him by treating him in exactly the opposite way he had been used to all his forty-one years of life. He who had once been a Duke had to help the cook, carrying wood for the fire and sweeping the kitchen. When he served food to the priests and brothers, he had to kneel down in front of them all and beg them to forgive him for being so clumsy! Still he never once complained or grumbled. The only time he became angry was when anyone treated him with respect as if he was still a Duke. Once a doctor who had to take care of a painful wound Francis had gotten said to him: "I am afraid, my lord, that I have to hurt your grace." The saint answered that he would not hurt him more than he was right then by calling him "my lord" and "your grace." It was not too long before the humble priest accomplished wonderful works for God's glory as he preached everywhere and advised many important people. He spread the Society of Jesus all over Spain and in Portugal. When he was made Superior General of the Jesuits, he sent missionaries all over the world. Under his guidance, the Jesuits grew to be a very great help to the Church in many lands. Through all such success, St. Francis Borgia remained completely humble. His feast day is October 10.

We also pray that Pope Francis is inspired by St. Francis Xavier Bianchi’s (1743 - 1815) call to ministry. Also from Catholic Online (see St. Francis Xavier Bianchi):

St. Francis Xavier Bianchi

Francis Xavier Bianchi, of Arpino, Italy, suffered much in striving to overcome his father’s opposition to his religious vocation. Having been ordained a Barnabite priest at the age of twenty-four, Father Bianchi spent hour upon hour in the confessional, sustained by a deep prayer life. His personal resolve to make himself always and everywhere available to anyone seeking his priestly ministry and counsel seemed to impart to his words and prayers an extraordinary efficacy. Later in life, Father Bianchi was crippled by the swelling and ulceration of both his legs, rendering him incapable of moving about or even standing on his own. He nonetheless managed to continue celebrating Mass. When in 1805 a lava flow from the erupting Mount Vesuvius threatened Naples, he had himself carried to the advancing edge of the lava, where with a blessing he halted it. Although bedridden, Father Bianchi continued to counsel those who came to him. Three days before his death, he experienced a vision of his deceased penitent, Saint Mary Frances of Naples, who before her own death in 1791 had promised to appear to him thus.

Another Francis – St. Francis Trung Van Tran (1825-1858) – from Vietnam was martyred because of his deep dedication to his faith; also an inspiration we hope for Pope Francis. Again, from Catholic Online (see St. Francis Trung Van Tran):

St. Francis Trung Van Tran

While serving as an army corporal, Francis Trung Van Tran, of Phan-Xa, Vietnam, was imprisoned after being accused of cheating during a scholastic exam. When subsequently the Vietnamese emperor Tu Duc granted a general amnesty to prisoners, all were ordered to trample upon a cross in renunciation of Christianity if they wanted to be set free. Having converted to the Catholic faith, Francis refused to comply with this command. When questioned about this, he admitted to being a Christian, adding, “Never will I desert my religion.” He was thereafter beaten repeatedly and sentenced to death for his faith. When two mandarins of the imperial court petitioned Tu Duc to pardon the condemned man, the emperor not only refused their request, but he also ordered the mandarins themselves to be punished for trying to save the prisoner. At his execution, Francis asked for a bit of limestone paste, which he then used to draw a cross upon the back of his neck. He was put to death by beheading.

More than a billion Catholics around the world pray for this new Pope as he begins a very big, very difficult job – may all the Saints Francis intercede on his behalf.






All images from Catholic Online at the url addresses cited