The Catholic Spirit - March 21, 2013

POPE FRANCIS

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WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

16-page Commemorative Edition

Inside: • Archbishop reflects on papal transition • Local Catholics happily welcome Holy Father • Stories, photos from pope’s first week

The Catholic Spirit March 21, 2013

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WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

Humility and courage connect Pope Francis, Benedict XVI Archbishop Nienstedt reflects on papal transition What a joyous time in the life of our universal Catholic Church!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I are so blessed to be witnesses to one of the most significant moments in the history of our Church. As has now been widely reported, the last time that a sitting pope resigned from the papacy was 600 years ARCHBISHOP ago. And now, Pope NIENSTEDT Emeritus Benedict XVI, with whom my brother bishops of Minnesota and I had the privilege of meeting one year ago almost to the day, has retired to a life of prayer and meditation.

He is not without a mission; he will now serve the Church in a new but critically important way. And, indeed, we can be assured of the power of his prayers for the good of the universal Church. This is truly a blessing and a remarkable turn of events.

The election of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been equally significant and surprising. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was not on anyone’s “list,” or at least not on the radar of the bevy of pundits and the professional chattering class.

But during these recent days, we have

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, right, now Pope Francis, is pictured traveling by subway in Buenos Aires in 2008.

CNS photo / Diego Fernandez Otero, Clarin handout via Reuters

been reminded that the only “list” that matters is the one written by the Author of Life, and indeed, I believe it was the will of the Holy Spirit that this humble man and deeply dedicated servant of Christ was the one who rose with clarity in the minds and hearts of the cardinal electors.

Twin themes As I have reflected and prayed about these events, I have been moved by twin themes that connect Pope Francis and Benedict XVI: humility and courage. It was clearly with humility and courage that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made his de-

cision to cede the papacy to a successor who could carry on the physically demanding and far-reaching duties to which he could no longer apply himself with vigor.

As we have come to learn in the days since his election, it has also been with humility and courage that Cardinal Bergoglio has lived out his vocation of service to the People of God, which is Christ’s Church.

The many examples of his leadership and service, both from his past and his recent actions, paint a clear picture of a humble man of sincerity, simplicity, and a deep and abiding love for God and

neighbor, especially for the poor and forgotten.

It was with humility that he bowed before the faithful that had gathered and remained in the rain for hours outside St. Peter’s Basilica. He asked humbly for their blessing. He asked also for our blessing.

And it was with humility that he selected the name Francis, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a great saint who lived out the word of our Lord Jesus Christ in every action with radical simplicity and verve.

With St. Francis as a model, we can PLEASE TURN TO HOLY ON PAGE 13

Congratulations

POPE FRANCIS

ARCHBISHOP JOHN C. NIENSTEDT

BISHOP LEE PICHÉ ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS HARRY J. FLYNN AND ALL THE FAITHFUL IN THE

ARCHDIOCESE

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SAINT PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS

SEND PRAYERS AND GOOD WISHES TO OUR NEW

HOLY FATHER.

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MARCH 21, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Inaugural Mass marked by symbolism, signs of ministry

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Although attempts were made to simplify the ceremony, Pope Francis officially inaugurated his ministry as pope and bishop of Rome in a liturgy filled with biblical symbolism and signs of the universality of his mission.

But before the solemn rites began March 19, Pope Francis — known for choosing public transportation over chauffeur-driven limousines — took his first spin in the popemobile, blessing the tens of thousands of people who arrived in St. Peter’s Square as early as 4 a.m. to pray with him. He waved and, at one point, gave a thumbs up to the faithful. He also kissed three babies held up to him by the chief of Vatican security, Domenico Gianni, and other officers.

But he climbed out of the open jeep used as a popemobile to kiss a severely disabled man.

Flags, including those of his homeland of Argentina, are held up by pilgrims as Pope Francis makes his way through the crowd in St. Peter’s Square before celebrating his inaugural Mass at the Vatican March 19.

Protecting God’s gifts

In the footsteps of St. Peter Although according to church law he officially became pope the minute he accepted his election in the Sistine Chapel March 13, Pope Francis received important symbols of his office just before the inauguration Mass — the Book of the Gospels; the ring of the fisherman, St. Peter; and the pallium, a woolen band worn around the shoulders to evoke a shepherd carrying a sheep.

With members of the College of Cardinals dressed in gold gathered before the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica

The Catholic Spirit Vol. 18 — No. 6

CNS photo / Paul Haring

Popes from religious orders

As the Mass began, tens of thousands of pilgrims, faithful and tourists continued to arrive, filling St. Peter’s Square and crowding around the large video screens placed along the boulevard leading to the square. By the time of Communion, the Vatican said there were between 150,000 and 200,000 people present.

In his homily, “In the Gospels,” he said, “St. Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak, but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love.”

“We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness,” Pope Francis said.

The new pope said exercising the role of protector as St. Joseph did means doing so “discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand.”

The Gospels present St. Joseph as a husband to Mary, “at her side in good times and bad,” and as a father who watched over Jesus, worried about him and taught him a trade, the pope said.

St. Joseph responded to his call to be a protector “by being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply his own,” the pope said.

Fidelity to God’s word and God’s plan for individuals and for all of creation makes the difference, he said, calling on everyone to be sensitive and loving toward those in their care, especially toward children, the aged, the poor and the sick.

“In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it,” he said. “Be protectors of God’s gifts.”

Pope Francis asked the government leaders present and all those with responsibility in the field of economics, politics and social life to stand firm when destruction and death threaten human dignity, human life and the environment. He met with the heads of the government delegations after the Mass.

Caring for others, he said in his homily, must begin with watching over one’s own heart, mind and actions, resisting “hatred, envy and pride” and emotions that can tear others down.

Sources:The Catholic Encyclopedia, Clerocompostela.blogspot.com, Op.org, Franciscans.org. Alberto Cuadra / The Washington Post.

and brass players sounding a fanfare, the rites began at the tomb of St. Peter. Pope Francis venerated the mortal remains of his predecessor as head of the church and was joined there by the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Processing behind the Eastern church leaders and the cardinals, Pope Francis came out into St. Peter’s Square while the choir chanted a special litany to Christ the King.

French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who had announced Pope Francis’ election to the world six days earlier, placed the pallium, which had been worn by Pope Benedict XVI, around the new pope’s neck. The retired pope did not attend the Mass.

“The Good Shepherd charged Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep; today you succeed him as the bishop of this Church to which he and the Apostle Paul were fathers in faith,” Cardinal Tauran said.

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Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, presented Pope Francis with the fisherman’s ring, a gold-plated silver band featuring St. Peter holding keys, a reminder that Jesus told St. Peter: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Giving the pope “the ring, the seal of Peter the fisherman,” Cardinal Sodano told the pope he was called, as bishop of Rome, to preside over the church with charity.

He prayed the pope would have “the gentleness and strength to preserve, through your ministry, all those who believe in Christ in unity and fellowship.”

Six cardinals, representing the entire College of Cardinals, publicly pledged obedience to the pope.

While many Christians acknowledge the special role of the bishop of Rome as the one who presides over the entire Christian community in love, the way the papacy has been exercised over the centuries is one of the key factors in the ongoing division of Christians.

For the first time since the Great Schism of 1054 split the main Christian community into East and West, the ecumenical patriarch attended the installation Mass. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, first among equals of the Eastern Orthodox, sat in a place of honor near the papal altar.

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WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

Papal coat of arms features motto by English doctor of Church

By Carol Glatz

ficial seal of the Society of Jesus in yellow and red, representing Jesus and the religious order in which the pope was ordained as a priest in 1969.

Below are a five-pointed star and the buds of a spikenard flower, which represent respectively Mary and St. Joseph, according to Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

The papal motto, like his episcopal one, is the Latin phrase “Miserando atque eligendo,” which means “because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him” or more simply, “having mercy, he called him.”

The phrase comes from a homily by St. Bede — an English eighth-century Christian writer and doctor of the Church.

Catholic News Service

Pope Francis’ papal motto is based on the Gospel account of “The Call of St. Matthew,” the tax collector, in a homily given by St. Bede the Venerable.

The pope decided to keep his episcopal motto and coat of arms for his pontificate with just a few minor adjustments in line with a papal emblem. For example, the blazon adds the bishop’s miter and the keys of St. Peter.

The silver miter was something Pope Benedict XVI established in 2005, putting an end to the three-tiered tiara that, for centuries, had appeared at the top of each pope’s coat of arms.

The simple, more modest miter has three gold stripes to mirror order, jurisdiction and magisterium, and a vertical gold band connects the three stripes in the middle to indicate their unity in the same person.

Imitating Christ

Gold and silver keys The Holy See’s insignia of two crossed keys, which symbolize the powers Christ gave to the Apostle Peter and his successors, is on the new papal coat of arms and has been part of papal emblems for centuries.

The papal emblem uses a gold key to represent the power in heaven and a silver key to indicate the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. The red cord that unites the two keys alludes to the bond between the two powers.

Something Pope Francis seems to have changed is to have removed the pallium, the woolen stole symbolizing a bishop’s authority, to the elements surrounding the shield.

The pallium was a new element Pope Benedict added to his coat of arms in 2005.

The new papal blazon contains the same symbols Pope Francis had on his episcopal coat of arms.

The dark blue shield is divided into three sections — each of which has its own symbol. On the top is the of-

CNS

The coat of arms of Pope Francis borrows much from his former episcopal emblem. On the blue shield is the symbol of the Society of Jesus. Below it is a five-pointed star and the buds of a spikenard flower, which represent respectively Mary and St. Joseph. The papal motto is the Latin phrase “Miserando atque eligendo,” which means “because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him" or more simply, “having mercy, he called him.” The phrase comes from a homily by St. Bede.

St. Bede’s homily refers to Matthew 9:9-13 in which Jesus saw the tax collector, Matthew, sitting at a customs post and said to him, “Follow me.”

St. Bede explained in his homily, “Jesus saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with his merciful understanding of men.”

“He saw the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said to him: ‘Follow me.’ This following meant imitating the pattern of his life — not just walking after him. St. John tells us: ‘Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.’”

St. Bede continued: “This conversion of one tax collector gave many men, those from his own profession and other sinners, an example of repentance and pardon.

Notice also the happy and true anticipation of his future status as apostle and teacher of the nations. No sooner was he converted than Matthew drew after him a whole crowd of sinners along the same road to salvation.”

Pope Francis was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and became archbishop in 1998.

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Local Catholics happily to welcome new pope

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

As his flight to Chicago was boarding on the afternoon of March 13, Jesuit Father Tim Manatt, president of Minneapolis-based Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, was glued to the waiting area monitor showing a still-empty papal balcony before the announcement of the new pope.

At last call, there was still no pope, so he reluctantly boarded the plane.

A few minutes before takeoff, the news arrived on Father Manatt’s cell phone.

“There I was captive in a plane when the door has been closed and I had no way of communicating with the outside world, but it was a feeling of joy that I felt head to toe,” he said.

As a Jesuit, Pope Francis will benefit from the order’s emphasis on education and experience in areas where the Church is growing. His training in listening with the heart and mind will also help him, he said.

“I think that a Jesuit is meant to have ears and a heart that are well trained to listen, and I believe and I trust that the impact of that will be very significant in having Francis, who is trained as a Jesuit in the role of shepherd of the Church to listen well and to listen with your heart and your head and to be well disposed to the positive interpretations of the words of your neighbor,” Father Manatt said.

Students at Cristo Rey, 70 percent of whom are Latino, are excited about the new pope from Argentina — and even more so because he’s from the same country as soccer superstar Lionel Messi, Father Manatt said. The school is working to enhance its Jesuit identity and the election of a new Jesuit pope will help with that, he said.

Jesuit Father Tom Lawler, provincial of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, which includes Minnesota, said the pope serves as a “bridge-builder.”

“I’m proud in the sense that our Society of Jesus can be seen as a society that’s helping to build some bridges within the Church and across the world to other faiths and other peoples,” he said. “I’m proud that charism will now have more influence around the world through his ministry as pope.”

And, he added, “I will pray for him. I know my brother Jesuits around the world will certainly be praying for him in a special way because he’s one of our own.”

Franciscan values When Conventual Franciscan Father Steven McMichael heard the name “Francis” announced, he thought that Capuchin Franciscan Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston had been chosen as pope.

But as he’s learned about the new Jesuit pope, Father McMichael, an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas, said “he represents a dedication to the poor and suffering which are the center values of Franciscans.”

Junior seminarian Nathaniel Binversie celebrates in the Lower Quad at the sign of white smoke, yelling to others “We have a pope!”

Binversie waved the Vatican flag while roller blading through the middle of campus.

Rosie Murphy/TommieMedia

A group of Catholics storms the Lower Quad at the University of St. Thomas March 13, cheering and waving Vatican City flags and an American flag.

The new pope is less formal and brings a different tone to the papacy, he said. “He seems like a person who is not frightened to show his personality.”

Father McMichael noted that St. Ignatius was inspired

by St. Francis and that there has been learning between the orders.

Don Briel, director of the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Catholic Studies, said he was surprised that Pope Francis was chosen — in part because he is 76 — but not at the fact that he is South American.

Because he wasn’t a leading candidate focused on specific tendencies toward reforming the Roman curia or introducing new evangelization initiatives, and because he is older, Pope Francis may have been a compromise candidate, Briel said.

“It wasn’t clear what individual might combine all of these emphases with the right tension to secure them, and the leading candidates clearly were identified with one or the other of those tendencies rather than all of them,” he said.

Renewing the church Jim Kolar said he was impressed that the new pope asked the faithful to pray over him before extending his blessing over them.

“My hope is that he would continue Benedict XVI and John Paul II in terms of the new evangelization and the focus on renewing the Church through the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of the new movements and the right kind of openness to engage the modern world while

Caroline Rode / TommieMedia

preserving the integrity of the Gospel and the deposit of faith,” said Kolar, founder of the Community of Christ the Redeemer, a Catholic lay community based in West St. Paul.

It may be a challenge for Pope Francis to adjust to the Vatican, but it is good that he represents another part of the world and a different cultural experience, he said.

Even while watching the announcement in a small office packed with 25 of her excited NET Ministries coworkers, Molly Gallagher said seeing the new pope gave her a feeling of peace.

“He seems to be simple and humble for what the Lord has placed on his shoulders. I’m looking forward to seeing how he will lead us closer to Christ,” she said.

The name Francis might be new, but the pope’s simplicity seems to indicate that his emulation of the saint isn’t.

Cathedral Mass celebrates new pope’s ‘beautiful . . . faith’

By Susan Klemond

“To our Holy Father Pope Francis, I offer my deep fraternal affection and I renew my pledge of obedience,” the statement said in part. “May our prayers be joined today and in the coming days for our new Holy Father.”

For The Catholic Spirit

Pope Francis’ papacy has begun with a recognition of faith in Jesus just as the first pope, St. Peter, recognized the Lord as the Christ in the Gospel, according to Bishop Lee Piché at a Mass celebrating the papal election March 13 at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

The election reveals a “beautiful expression of personal faith,” Bishop Piché said in his homily.

“Faith is key to what happened to us today, and it’s at the root of the office of Peter.”

In the Gospel, Peter looked beyond Jesus’ humanity and saw God’s presence on earth, and Jesus blessed him for that recognition, which was given by God, the bishop said.

Pope Francis’ papacy also begins with a recognition of faith as we place trust in Christ our shepherd.

The media’s scrutiny of the pope will help us understand the man but “for Catholics there’s so much more in the election, not just analysis,” he said. It will require our trust and faith to once again recognize Jesus among us, Bishop Piché said.

In the pope’s request for a blessing from the faithful “he acknowledges in a profound and very different gesture that

God’s choice

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Lucia Damm, right, sings the opening hymn during a Mass of thanksgiving at the Cathedral of St. Paul March 13 for Pope Francis, who was elected earlier in the day. Next to her is her brother, Luke, and mother, Sarah, center, holding Joseph.

there is in fact the same presence of the Holy Spirit working in and through the Church,” Bishop Piché said.

During the Mass, Father Peter Laird, vicar general of the archdiocese, read a statement on behalf of Archbishop John Nienstedt.

After the Mass, Bishop Piché said he felt joy and gratitude when he heard the announcement of the new pope, even though he hadn’t been expecting it to be Pope Francis. “It was God’s choice,” he said.

Cathedral parishioner Joao Lima, who attended the Mass with his wife Maria and their three young boys, agreed. “I guess the Holy Spirit picked the one the Church needed,” he said.

Jen Messing of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony said she is grateful that “God gives the Church what she needs.”

Messing said she hopes that while Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI worked to “unpack” the teachings of Vatican II, Pope Francis will show us how to live it.

She said she looks forward to seeing what the new pope will teach us.

“How unique and unrepeatable each pope is, and they teach us something new,” she said. “All three of them have taught us something new.”

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

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As archbishop, pope made outreach to poor a priority

By David Agren Catholic News Service

Mass at Christ the Worker Parish in Buenos Aires is celebrated on a cement soccer pitch. There, parishioners sit on portable pews and relax on the embankment of an overpass; shipping containers soar over the fence behind the altar.

The service starts as the sun sets, with children and local youth beating drums, and dancers dressed in blue and white costumes — similar to the national patroness, Our Lady of Lujan — circling the pitch.

The Mass unfolds like any other: readings, homily, consecration, handshakes and Communion.

The chapel near the soccer pitch is part church, part community center and serves Villa 31, one of the more than 500 shanties surrounding the Argentine capital, places where the authorities are often absent and drug dealing is rife. Christ the Worker Parish has six chapels in Villa 31 and adjacent areas.

It’s an example of the outreach to outcasts and the poor employed

by Pope Francis during his 15 years “People can show you as archbishop of Buenos Aires, photos of him in their where he wanted the church brought closer to the people and house. Humble people sent seminarians and priests to serve can’t believe that he them.

“The outskirts of Buenos Aires” came to my ‘villa,’ my —where many “villas de emergencia,” or shanties, are located — barrio, and now he’s “were the center for him, not the pope.” downtown,” said Father Jose Maria di Paola, or, “Padre Pepe,” perhaps Father Jose Maria di Paola the best-known of the priests who live and work in the villas.

“The orientation of the archdiocese has been directed toward the most needy,” Father di Paola said, adding that the Church at times has provided more social assistance in the villas than the state has provided.

The villas were such a priority for Pope Francis that he established chapels and missions, providing education, serving hot meals and organizing youth groups and drug rehabilitation programs.

He also denounced drug use, drug decriminalization and drug dealing — especially paco, a form of crack cocaine sold in the villas. In 2009, the pope’s denouncements forced Father di Paola, 50, to temporarily leave the villas after he received death threats.

Building community None of that slowed down the mission work, which Father di Paola suspected has been successful because priests actually live and work in the villas and become part of the community. Their numbers grew under Pope Francis, going from “eight or nine” priests to more than 20, he said.

This has stopped other Christian denominations from moving in, added Father di Paolo, 50, who looks like a man in his late 30s with his shaggy hair, thin beard and black tennis shoes.

It also gives a sense of community to those originally from other places: Father di Paolo said priests often incorporate customs that Catholics bring from the neighboring countries into their celebrations.

Pope Francis frequently visited the villas, places many people, including some taxi drivers, avoid. He arrived on the bus or collective transport, walked the rutted roads and baptized and confirmed the children of the residents — many of whom worked as bricklayers and maids or came from countries such as Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay in search of better economic opportunities.

“He used to come to the villas, sip mate [an infusion] and visit with the people,” Father di Paola said.

“People can show you photos of him in their house,” he added. “Humble people can’t believe that he came to my ‘villa,’ my barrio, and now he’s pope.”

Reprinted with permission of the Pew Research Center, "Conclave Elects Pope Francis," © 2013 www.pewforum.org/Christian/Catholic/Conclave-Elects-Pope-Francis.aspx.

Opening their hearts Maria Laura, 20, said, “It’s pretty strange to say that I was confirmed by the pope.”

She participates with a youth group at Christ the Worker and said her group tried to help “a lot of kids getting into drugs.”

The youth groups also provide a path for young men to enter the seminary, although many seminarians and priests not from the villas are sent to serve them.

Father Martin Carrozza, 36, grew up near the archdiocesan seminary, but was asked by Pope Francis to serve the villas.

“He said, ‘If you don’t like it, I [will] remove you from them,” recalled Father Carrozza, vicar at Christ the Worker.

Father Carrozza said he would not consider leaving the community, explaining: “The people made me feel at home. They really opened their hearts.”

With his former archbishop now in the Vatican, Father di Paolo expects pastors like him to be priority in the papacy of Pope Francis.

“Any priest working with the poor will have a pastor close by,” he said.

Father Jose Maria di Paolo poses prior to Mass in the Villa 31 shanty of Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 17. The archdiocese made building chapels and serving people living in the shanties a priority during the administration of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis.

CNS photo / David Agren

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Minnesotans from Argentina feel ‘blessed’

By Susan Klemond and Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

When Pope Francis first appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Alejandra Hall was surprised to recognize a fellow Argentinian who used to regularly celebrate Mass and hear confessions at a cathedral located a few blocks from her childhood home in Buenos Aires.

“I think this is not just special for me because he is from Argentina. . . . It’s because he’s good for the Church.”

Mejandra Hall “When they announced it was him, I was so shocked, but I was so happy because he is a good and holy man,” said Hall, who has lived in the United States for 25 years and is a parishioner at St. Agnes in St. Paul. Hall has never met Pope Francis personally but said her mother has.

While Pope Francis was a strong candidate during the previous conclave, he didn’t receive the same attention at this one, Hall said.

She emphasized the new pope’s contact with regular people, noting that while liv-

ing in a small apartment in a diocesan office building in Buenos Aires — instead of the palace-like residence reserved for the cardinal — he cooked and cleaned for himself.

“I think this is not just special for me because he is from Argentina,” she said.

“It’s because he’s good for the Church. It’s a victory for everybody. I think he’s going to be a wonderful pope.”

As further evidence of Pope Francis’ involvement in ordinary life, Hall told of a woman waiting to cross a busy street in Buenos Aires who expressed surprise at seeing then-Cardinal Bergoglio standing next to her. He responded, “Well I’m going to the pharmacy across the street. One of my priests is sick and I’m going to get him some medicine.”

gentina.

“Even though we live in this country, I’ve been following what’s going on there,” she said. “In Argentina, like in many other countries in the world, the government is trying to push same-sex marriage and abortion.

“We were so happy to see Cardinal Bergoglio standing up firm with our Church’s beliefs on those topics and defending the Church’s positions.”

Sotro said she believes Pope Francis is the right leader for this time in history.

“He’s a humble person, and I think the name that he has chosen, Francis, says a lot about how he is, and how much the world needs to go back to God and forget about materialism,” she said. “That’s what St. Francis was all about.”

Right leader at right time Viviana Sotro, who came to the United States from Argentina in 2002, said it was a special day for her and fellow Argentinians.

“I was in shock at first. I wasn’t expecting a cardinal from Argentina to be our next pope,” said Sotro, who serves as executive director of Sagrada Familia Apostolate at St. Stephen parish in Minneapolis.

“I feel blessed,” she said. “I feel that, being from Argentina, I have a bigger commitment now, and I’m sure that our pope is feeling the same way.”

Sotro, 41, is from Rafaela, a small town in the middle of the country.

She and husband Adrian have four children, two of whom were born in Ar-

“He’s a humble person, and I think the name that he has chosen, Francis, says a lot about how he is, and how much the world needs to go back to God and forget about materialism.”

Viviana Sotro

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Reaction from around the world “I found a smiling person, calm and eradiating peace.

And then he did something that captured the people. . . . He asked that the people pray for him and that God bless him, and there was silence, and you saw all the people wonderfully silent.

We need now in the church moments of silence because we are speaking so much we don't hear ourselves or God or others.”

Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak of Alexandria, Egypt

“The symbolism of choosing a pope from Latin America delights and touches us, most particularly in developing countries. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, is a person from humble beginnings. . . . He has frequently and courageously spoken of the grave inequities afflicting the world, and his thirst for justice for all people will be a strong characteristic of his papacy.”

Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, South Africa, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference

“The European bishops see in your election a sign of hope and encouragement, a stimulus for us not to be concerned just about the specific problems of the old continent, but to measure the tasks of the churches entrusted to our pastoral care in the perspective of the universal church.”

Cardinal Peter Erdo of EsztergomBudapest, Hungary, president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

‘Let’s begin this j

First pope from Latin America has alw Catholic News Service Pope Francis, 76, is the first pope in history to come from the Western Hemisphere and the first non-European to be elected in almost 1,300 years.

The Jesuit was also the first member of his order to be elected pope, and the first member of any religious order to be elected in nearly two centuries.

His election March 13 came on the second day of the conclave, on its fifth ballot.

It was announced in Latin from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to a massive crowd in the square below and millions watching around the world.

When he appeared on the balcony, he sought prayers for Pope Benedict and spoke of the journey the church was about to begin.

“Now let’s begin this journey, bishop and people, this journey of the church of Rome, which is the one that presides in charity over all the churches — a journey of brotherhood, love and trust among us,” he said.

“Now I would like to give my blessing.

But first, I will ask a favor. Before the bishop blesses his people, he asks that you pray to the Lord to bless me, the prayer of the people for the blessing of their bishop. Let’s pray for me in silence,” he said.

Low-key style Since 1998, Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been archbishop of Buenos Aires, where his style was low-key and close to the people. He rode the bus, visited the poor, lived in a simple apartment and cooked his own meals. To many in Buenos Aires, he has been known simply as “Father Jorge.”

He also created new parishes, restructured the administrative offices, led prolife initiatives and started new pastoral programs, such as a commission for divorcees.

He co-presided over the 2001 Synod of Bishops and was elected to the synod coun-

cil, so he is well-known to the world’s bishops.

The pope has also written books on spirituality and meditation and has been outspoken against abortion and same-sex marriage.

In 2010, when Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage, Pope Francis encouraged clergy across the country to tell Catholics to protest against the legislation because, if enacted, it could “seriously injure the family.”

He also said adoption by same-sex couples would result in “depriving [children] of the human growth that God wanted them given by a father and a mother.”

In 2006, he criticized an Argentine proposal to legalize abortion under certain circumstances as part of a wide-ranging legal reform. He accused the government of lacking respect for the values held by the majority of Argentines and of trying to convince the Catholic Church “to waver in our defense of the dignity of the person.”

His role often forced him to speak publicly about the economic, social and political problems facing his country. His homilies and speeches are filled with references to the fact that all people are brothers and sisters and that the church and the country need to do what they can to make sure that everyone feels welcome, respected and cared for.

While not overtly political, Pope Francis has not tried to hide the political and social impact of the Gospel message, particularly in a country still recovering from a serious economic crisis.

Working class background Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires. He grew up in Barrio de Flores, a working-class neighborhood.

His father was a railway worker, his mother a homemaker. As a youth, the pope studied in public schools, and in high school ob-

CNS photo / Diego Fernandez Otero, Clarin handout via Reuters

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, is pictured walking through a subway turnstile in Buenos Aires in 2008.

Pope Fran leaving th

tained a te From a become a grew up i portedly w tions. Dam neighborh when they if he coul come a pr When gravely ill his right l can spok Lombardi it is “not a In 1958 tiate of th later he to on return philosoph Between ature and school in he taught Salvador s In 1967 studies, an

WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD 9

journey’

According to the pope “That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi.

For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we? . . . How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!”

ways been close to the people

Addressing the more than 5,000 media representatives March 16 who came from around the world for the conclave and his election

“Let’s give this knowledge to young people, like fine wine that gets better with age, let’s give young people the knowledge of life.”

March 15 to the College of Cardinals

“My thoughts turn with great affection and profound gratitude to my venerable Predecessor Benedict XVI, who enriched and invigorated the Church during the years of his pontificate by his teaching, his goodness, his leadership, his faith, his humility and his gentleness.”

CNS photo / Paul Haring

ncis greets people after celebrating Mass at St. Anne Parish within the Vatican March 17. The new pope greeted every person he small church and then walked over to meet people waiting around St. Anne's Gate.

echnical certification as a chemist. a young age, he knew he would a priest. Amalia Damonte, who in the pope’s neighborhood, rewas briefly the object of his affecmonte, who still lives in the same hood, has said in interviews that y were 12, Pope Francis said that, ld not marry her, he would beriest. the pope was 21, he became l with severe pneumonia and had lung partially removed. The Vatikesman, Jesuit Father Federico i, has confirmed this, noting that a handicap” in the pope’s life.

8, Pope Francis entered the novihe Society of Jesus, and two years ook his first vows as a Jesuit. Later, ning to Buenos Aires, he studied hy at San Miguel Seminary. n 1964 and 1965, he taught literpsychology at a Jesuit secondary Santa Fe, Argentina, and in 1966, t at the prestigious Colegio del secondary school in Buenos Aires.

7, he returned to his theological nd was ordained a priest Dec. 13,

1969. After his perpetual profession as a Jesuit in 1973, he became master of novices at San Miguel. Later that same year, he was elected superior of the Jesuit province of Argentina and Uruguay.

Some controversy had arisen over the position taken by Pope Francis during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship, which cracked down brutally on political opponents. Estimates of the number of people killed and who forcibly disappeared during those years range from about 13,000 to more than 30,000.

Citing a case in which two young Jesuits were detained by the military regime, critics say that the Jesuit provincial did not do enough to support church workers against the military dictatorship.

The Vatican has dismissed claims that Pope Francis played a direct role in the kidnappings of the two Jesuits and described them as part of a campaign by “leftwing anti-clerical elements to attack the church.”

From 1979 to 1985, Pope Francis served as rector and theology teacher at Colegio Maximo before heading to Germany to finalize his doctoral thesis.

In May 1992, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. He was one of three auxiliaries and he kept a low profile, spending most of his time caring for the Catholic university, counseling priests and preaching and hearing confessions.

On June 3, 1997, he was named coadjutor archbishop. He was installed as the new archbishop of Buenos Aires Feb. 28, 1998.

As archbishop, he adopted the attitude that the church belongs in the street. He built chapels and missions in poor areas and sent seminarians to serve them. He spoke out often against injustice, such as the treatment of migrant workers from neighboring countries and those lured into the sex trade.

In 2001, he was elevated to cardinal, and later that year he served as an official of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican.

Press reports indicate that in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Bergoglio received the secondhighest number of votes.

That same year, he began a six-year term as head of the Argentine bishops’ conference.

March 15 to the College of Cardinals

“Build with living stones, anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Confess Jesus. If we don't do that, we will be a pitiful NGO [non-governmental organization].”

From his homily during Mass March 14 in the Sistine Chapel with the 114 other cardinal electors who had taken part in the conclave

“Now I would like to give my blessing. But first, I will ask a favor. Before the bishop blesses his people, he asks that you pray to the Lord to bless me, the prayer of the people for the blessing of their bishop. Let’s pray for me in silence.”

During his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica March 13

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WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

Sts. Ignatius, Francis of Assisi: a bond highlighted by the pope

By Cindy Wooden

who died in 1226.

Catholic News Service

Simplicity

Pope Francis is “a Jesuit’s Jesuit” who understands the importance of St. Francis of Assisi in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, said the Jesuits’ secretary for the promotion of the faith.

U.S. Jesuit Father Gerald Blaszczak told Catholic News Service that while most Jesuits were shocked that a Jesuit was elected pope, “any Jesuit worth his salt” would not be surprised that the pope took the name of St. Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1958 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1969. He had been novice master and, from 1973 to 1979, was the Jesuit provincial for Argentina.

Ignatian spirituality Father Blaszczak said Pope Francis’ training and priesthood as a Jesuit “tell you that he’s been steeped in Ignatian spirituality,” has had “a top-notch secular education” and that “his formation has always put him in touch with real people in real-life situations,” which he then has reflected upon in an effort to identify the ways God was present.

“That he chose the name Francis signals to us where he’s from, what he’s about and what he believes the reform of the Church is going to require: It’s not going to require moral muscle, it’s not going to require just philosophical analysis; it’s going to require an engagement with the person of Christ,” particularly through the Scriptures, he said. “But it’s going to be the Christ poor and humble.”

While some people thought maybe Pope Francis took his name thinking also of the great Jesuit St. Francis Xavier, Father Blaszczak said Jesuits know just how important the life, example and spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi was in the conversion of their founder, St. Ignatius, and in the development of what has come to be

CNS photo / Octavio Duran

Adorning the walls of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi are a series of 28 frescoes painted by the famed Florentine Renaissance artist Giotto. They tell the story of a man’s extraordinary journey of faith. In this fresco, St. Francis holds up the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the episcopal seat of the pontiff. It illustrates the dream of Pope Innocent III, who moved by this vision, endorsed the religious order of St. Francis and his followers.

known as Ignatian spirituality.

St. Ignatius, who lived from 1491-1556, was from a Spanish noble family. After being wounded in battle, he began reviewing his life and thinking about his future. Father Blaszczak said he saw his choices as life and a career in the royal court or a life spent imitating St. Francis of Assisi.

“For Ignatius, Francis is the alternative to the life of the world. Francis, with his itinerant ministry and his intense devo-

Pope explains why he chose St. Francis of Assisi’s name

Welcome Pope Francis.

We celebrated with you on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19, the day of your installation.

Catholic News Service

ol m © A n s g ar H

We look to him for guidance as we continue our work on behalf of those who are poor and marginalized.

As we come to know you, we appreciate the way you model the values we find in St. Joseph. With hearts full of hope and gratitude we hold you in our hearts and in our prayers.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates St. Paul Province

CS

J

It is a day so very special to us as we remember St. Joseph, our patron.

He was a man of dreams, who in his own quiet way, modeled humility, tolerance, and compassion.

tion to the life of Christ and his ascetical lifestyle,” is the counterbalance to the worldly life in the court, the Jesuit said.

“Ignatius, as he admits himself, was given to womanizing, gambling and feats of arms,” but at the time of his conversion, “to his great surprise,” Ignatius finds himself “much more attracted, much more consoled, enlivened and given joy when he thinks about imitating the life of St. Francis,” the founder of the Franciscans,

Father Blaszczak said Catholics already have a good hint of how Ignatian and Franciscan spirituality might impact the way Pope Francis exercises his ministry “in the way he engaged the people of Rome” when he first stepped out onto the balcony as their bishop and pope March 13 “with great simplicity, with minimal pomp and circumstance.”

The Jesuit said he expected Pope Francis to continue as much as possible to live as he did while cardinal and archbishop of Buenos Aires, with “simplicity and austerity in conformity with the life of Ignatius and Francis, in conformity with his intention to follow Christ poor and humble.”

The focus of St. Ignatius, St. Francis and “historically of our new pope” when he was bishop was to be closest to the poor and those on the margins of society, he said.

The modern papacy, however, has included a certain style dictated by protocol and respect for the pope.

Father Blaszczak said he did not think that would frustrate Pope Francis.

“From the conversations I’ve had with my Latin American Jesuit colleagues, this is a man who knows his own mind. This is a man who is not afraid of choosing and marking his own direction,” he said.

He also said he did not think the life of the Society of Jesus would change much with a Jesuit in the Apostolic Palace, because “we are bound to the service of the Church through our connection and availability to the Holy Father, and that doesn’t change” no matter who is pope.

The Jesuits promise not to seek high offices in the Church, which explains in part why there has never been a Jesuit pope before. However, Father Blaszczak said, that Jesuit promise is secondary to their promise to always be available for whatever mission the Church needs them to take on.

b er

g,

Pope Francis said that “as things got dangerous” in the conclave voting, he was sitting next to his “great friend,” Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes “who comforted me.”

When the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went over the 77 votes needed to become pope, he said, Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’”

Taking words to heart Pope Francis told thousands of journalists March 16 that he took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” the same created world “with which we don’t have such a good relationship.”

“How I would like a church that is poor and that is for the poor,” he told the more than 5,000 media representatives who came from around the world for the conclave and his election.

Pope Francis also said some had sug-

gested jokingly that he, a Jesuit, should have taken the name Clement XV “to get even with Clement XIV, who suppressed the Society of Jesus” in the 1700s.

The pope told the media, “You’ve really been working, haven’t you.”

While the church includes a large institution with centuries of history, he said, “the church does not have a political nature, but a spiritual one.”

Pope Francis told reporters it was the Holy Spirit who led Pope Benedict XVI to resign, and it was the Holy Spirit who guided the conclave.

Heartfelt blessing After personally greeting dozens of journalists and representatives of the Vatican press office, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Vatican newspaper and Vatican Radio, the pope came back to the microphone.

“I know that many of you are not Catholic or are not believers, so I impart my heartfelt blessing to each of you silently, respecting your consciences, but knowing that each of you is a child of God. May God bless you,” he said.

WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

MARCH 21, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

They were there

Reaction from Rome “There was a moment where [the pope] asked us to enter into silence to pray for him that was just so incredibly powerful — I could hear a car alarm going off three or four blocks away. That moment made me excited for Pope Francis to build off the papacies of JPII and Benedict, taking their momentum and continuing with it in spiritual renewal and the New Evangelization.

By the very virtue of him taking the name ‘Francis,’ he proclaims a mission of rebuilding the Lord’s Church.”

Minnesotan joins ‘mad dash’ to see new pope Tom Schulzetenberg is the director of the Rome campus of the University of Mary in Bismark, N.D. Formerly, he was the administrative chancellor for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

WHEN THE WHITE SMOKE APPEARED: I was fortunate to be present in St. Peter’s square, and I stayed in the square to see Pope Francis appear on the balcony and address the crowd. . . .

When the white smoke came, the whole crowd started to cheer, and then 10 seconds later, made a mad dash toward the front of [St. Peter’s Basilica] to get a good spot under the balcony. No one seemed to mind anymore that it was lightly raining and was pretty damp and cold!

The smoke continued to pour out of the little chimney for 15 minutes or so, while the huge bells of St. Peter’s (along with those all over the city) began to ring out. It was electric!

People were praying, trying to call loved ones (the cell phone networks were overloaded and jammed) and many groups started spontaneous chants and songs. After we made our way up toward the front and center, we waited about an hour until the Cardinal-deacon appeared and said the words that we were all waiting for: “Habemus Papam!”

Then he said the name of cardinal elected pope and his new name. At first, we all cheered, then we all looked at each other in confusion and astonishment: “Who?” At that point, hardly anyone knew Cardinal Bergoglio, except a few smart priests and seminarians. Nevertheless, the crowd started to chant “Francesco!” We were so happy that we had a pope!

When the Holy Father appeared, he gave his simple address and asked for prayers before he blessed us. I had expected something much more dramatic, with his hands in the air, greeting the crowd, and saying something profound, like Pope John II,

Brian Goulet, a junior studying at the University of St.Thomas Bernardi Campus in Rome

Photo courtesy of Tom Schulzetenberg

Tom Schulzetenberg enjoys the festivities in Rome with his wife JoAnn and son Mathias.

“Be not afraid!

However, we were all a bit perplexed and even chuckled a little bit when he simply said, “Buona Sera,” (Good evening). I knew then — and it has been confirmed by many of his actions over the last [several] days — that the Church and the world was in store for something wonderful and different. As he continued to speak, people began to see how plain spoken he was — and even a bit humorous —which put them all at ease and was very endearing.

The most profound moment for me was when he asked for a moment of silence to pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict. Everyone fell silent. The rain stopped. Not a single cell phone rang or baby cried. Even the seagulls flying overhead ceased their squawking. It was so quiet that I could hear the water from the fountains in the square running! I couldn’t believe it — with such a crowd and so much excitement! That was my PLEASE TURN TO SEEING ON PAGE 14

Seminarian’s long wait at St. Peter’s Square rewarded Joseph Kuharski, who is from the Twin Cities, is studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

His home parish is St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony.

WHEN THE WHITE SMOKE APPEARED: I was in St. Peter’s Square; I had been in the square for nearly two hours (with the Bernardi Study-Abroad program of the University of St. Thomas) by the time the smoke went up. . . .

It first came out as blackish grey, but then everybody started yelling, “We have a pope!” After jumping up and down once or twice to celebrate, our whole group rushed up into the sea of umbrellas in front of us. It was like a stampede, until we were all packed in like sardines. People were yelling “Habemus Papam”, and then they started to chant “Vi-va il Papa!”, “Vi-va

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“The more I heard about him, the more I admired him and thanked God for giving our cardinals the wisdom to elect such a holy man!” il

Joseph Kuharski

Papa!”, “Vi-va il Papa!” (“Long live the Pope”) The chanting started to die down as

people started to talk about who it could be that was elected in such a short time — only in five [ballots]. The few of us that got separated then prayed another rosary for the new Holy Father, since we waited for over an hour before he actually came out. At various points, the crowd started to chant the Marian hymn, “Salve Regina,” which at least once was started by the Bernardi crew just up in front of us.

WHEN THE NAME OF THE NEW POPE WAS ANNOUNCED: I was shocked; no one saw it coming. I had only heard his name once before, but I had remembered hearing in general that he would be a good candidate.

Then, basic biographical information started to spread through the crowd like PLEASE TURN TO SEMINARIAN ON PAGE 14

“I hope he will demonstrate a good balance of how to be simple, yet show the richness of our tradition as Catholics, what [the Church] has been teaching for over 2,000 years and what she continues to maintain and defend.”

Michael Mazzei, a junior at Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis, Ind. , studying at the UST Rome campus.

“I turned one way and people were speaking Spanish. I turned the other way and they were speaking French.

Behind me, there were Polish people. I thought, ‘Every single person here is all part of the same Church.’ Pope Francis, when he came out on the balcony, was not Italy’s Pope. He wasn’t Argentina’s pope. He was and is our pope — the worldwide Church’s pope.”

Brandon Miranda, a junior studying at the University of St.Thomas Bernardi Campus in Rome

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WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

First days as pope marked by prayer, simplicity Pope Francis starts first day with Marian prayer and bill paying

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Pope Francis began his first full day as pope with an early morning act of Marian devotion — and by paying the bill at the clergy hotel where he had stayed before entering the conclave that elected him.

The new pope left the Domus Sanctae Marthae at 8 a.m. March 14 for a five-minute drive to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed before an icon of Mary and the child Jesus beloved by Romans, the “Salus Populi Romani” (Protectress of the Roman People).

Pope Francis knelt in prayer for a while, then sat praying for several minutes before leaving at the altar the bouquet of flowers he had been carrying, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman The spokesman said the pope paused in front of the basilica's main altar, which is built over a reliquary containing, according to tradition, pieces of the manger where Jesus was laid as a baby.

Pope Francis, a Jesuit, then went to the Sistine Chapel of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which is where St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first Mass in 1538. Ignatius had wanted to celebrate his first Mass in Bethlehem, but could not travel there, so chose instead St. Mary Major with its relic of the manger, Father Lombardi said. “This is a significant place for the Jesuits,” he said.

Afterward, riding in an unmarked police car rather than in one of the papal sedans, Pope Francis went to the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, a hotel and residence for clergy, which is where he was staying before the conclave began March 12.

Father Lombardi said Pope Francis went to collect the suitcase he had left there. On the way out of the building, he stopped to greet the people who work there and “he paid his bill as a good example” to the other clerics.

The spokesman also told reporters March 14 that Pope Francis was wearing the simple pectoral cross that he'd had as a bishop and archbishop in Argentina.

CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano

Newly elected Pope Francis checks out of the church-run residence March 14 where he had stayed in Rome. The pope returned to the residence where he stayed before becoming pontiff and insisted on paying the bill, despite now effectively being in charge of the business, the Vatican said.

Pope asks Argentines to donate to poor instead of traveling to Rome

At first Angelus, Pope Francis says God never tires of forgiving

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Pope Francis kisses a crucifix after arriving to celebrate Mass at St. Anne's Parish within the Vatican March 17. The new pope greeted every person leaving the small church and then walked over to meet people waiting around St. Anne's Gate.

CNS photo / L’Osservatore Romano

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service

Citing a distinguished German theologian and an anonymous elderly penitent from Argentina, Pope Francis told an overflow crowd in St. Peter’s Square never to despair of God’s mercy to sinners.

“The Lord never tires of forgiving,” the pope said March 17, before leading his listeners in praying the midday Angelus. “It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.”

Pope Francis, who was elected March 13, spoke from his window in the Apostolic Palace for the first time. Despite gray skies, a crowd easily numbering 150,000 turned out to see the pope for his first scheduled appearance in St.

Peter’s Square since the night of his election.

He opened with an expression of what has already become his trademark informality, greeting listeners with a simple “buongiorno!”

Following the Angelus, the pope offered a particular greeting to Romans and other Italians, noting that he had chosen for his papal name that of St. Francis of Assisi, which he said “reinforces my spiritual tie with this land, where — as you know — my family origins lie.”

Afterward, outside the church, the pope personally greeted each of the approximately 200 members of the congregation, then walked over to the nearby St. Anne’s Gate and greeted members of a crowd that had formed on the other side of the boundary separating Vatican from Italian territory.

The night of his election, Pope Francis phoned the Vatican ambassador in Argentina and asked him to tell the country’s bishops and faithful not to feel obliged to come to Rome for his installation, but instead give the money to the poor, the Vatican spokesman confirmed.

“Pope Francis did not forbid them to come,” said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman, but he said he would prefer their continued prayers and acts of charity.

The nuncio to Argentina, Archbishop Emil Tscherrig, wrote to all the bishops March 14 conveying the Argentine pope’s sentiments.

“The Holy Father Francis asked me to convey to all the bishops, priests, religious and all God’s people, his gratitude for your prayers and expressions of love, affection and charity,” the archbishop wrote.

However, he said, Pope Francis asked that “instead of going to Rome for the start of his pontificate March 19, you would continue with that spiritual closeness he so appreciates, accompanying him with some act of charity toward those in need.”

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MARCH 21, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Holy Father will lead by example CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Reaction from around the U.S. “I am delighted to see the choice of a cardinal from South America as it reflects the true universality of the Catholic Church.”

expect our new Holy Father to be a courageous and indefatigable defender of the whole of Catholic social and moral teaching — in belief, word and deed. Like St. Francis, he will lead with great compassion for the poor and the marginalized, and he will continue, as he has as priest, bishop and cardinal, to “walk the talk.”

As the first Jesuit pope, there is more to the selection of the name Francis than may be obvious. That a Jesuit would select the name of the founder of the Franciscan order demonstrates a humble desire for unity. Indeed, that we may all be one.

Father John O’Connor, provincial minister of the Franciscans of Holy Name Province

“As I watched it, I was so pleased that not only did he [Pope Francis] offer his blessings and prayers but he also asked for the blessings and prayers [of] the people.”

Leading by example My dear brothers and sisters, truly, this is an extraordinary time for us as Catholics. It is an important time in the history of the world as well.

In many ways, we are at an historical crossroads between the fever-pitch pull of the things of this world and the beckoning of God, who unceasingly calls to us “Come back! I love you! Come home to a place of peace and true freedom.”

Which call will we heed? How will we help others hear this call and offer a response? And, yes, this call will require from all of us the twin virtues of humility and courage.

In response to this vast challenge of our time, our Holy Father will lead by example.

We ought to pledge our love, commitment and ongoing prayers to him. He has already shown us, like our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the face of humility and courage. In a world that needs to know the person of Jesus Christ now more than ever, we can expect that Pope Francis will be a bold voice for faith and reason.

In his first homily, Pope Francis said: “I

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Bishop John F. Kinney of St. Cloud CNS photo / L'Osservatore Romano

Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the window of his private apartment as he leads his first Angelus in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 17.

would like that all of us, after these days of grace, might have the courage — the courage — to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the cross of the Lord: to build the Church on the blood of the Lord, which is shed on the cross, and to profess the one glory, Christ Crucified. In this way, the Church will go forward.”

Our Holy Father is showing us the way of humility, and is already rallying us to walk boldly with courage, knowing that the way of our Lord necessarily means the embrace of the cross. All of us as Christian

disciples are called to bring the light and life of Jesus Christ into the lives of others, a mission we unfortunately know will continue to find opposition in our world.

During this historic moment in the life of the Church, let us all rejoice in the blessing of Pope Francis. Let us together, united in faith, hope and love, follow the example of both Benedict XVI and Francis to build up this Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, with humility and courage.

God bless you!

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“At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus commissioned St. Peter, the rock upon which the church would be built. Pope Francis continues that mission in an increasingly secular culture, where many people have not come to know or have forgotten that Jesus is our savior and redeemer. . . .We pledge our faithful support for the Holy Father as he leads the church in proclaiming the new evangelization, inviting all people to develop a closer relationship with Christ and to share that gift with others.”

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston

“Service, humility, advocacy for the poor, mercy, prayerfulness, simplicity and grace: These are among the immediately evident characteristics of the new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. . . . We look forward to supporting him as he assumes the profound spiritual and managerial responsibilities of his pontificate.

Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management

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While in conclave, cardinals missed births, rain, cellphones

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

While the cardinal electors were intensely praying and choosing the next pope, they were utterly unaware of the huge crowds waiting outside braving the rain and wondering whether the smoke really worked, said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

The cardinal also said that while he and the 114 other electors were shut off from the rest of the world, a new member of his family had been born when his niece gave birth to a baby boy.

“And I didn’t know it!” he said.

He said he knew she was probably going to go in to the hospital March 12, which was the start of the conclave, so it was “the first thing I asked when I got out,” he told reporters the night Pope Francis was elected March 13.

Being cut off from all forms of communication for 27 hours was not easy.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston told reporters that it was difficult to not have his cellphone with him during the conclave because he was so used to having it on him.

But the seclusion meant the cardinals were not even aware if the smoke signals they were sending could be seen or interpreted correctly given the past history of the smoke being a confusing shade of gray.

“Did the smoke work this time?” Cardinal Dolan asked reporters.

First conclave He said it was fascinating to watch how the ballots and packets of chemicals that made either black or white smoke were being loaded in the two stoves in the Sistine Chapel.

It was Cardinal Dolan’s first conclave, which he said was “very inspirational, very moving.”

He said he listened to a few “veteran” cardinals who had participated in a conclave before for input, and they told him that “Once you get in there, you will feel the

“You feel a beautiful sense of resignation and direction as you see things unfolding. It was a very beautiful experience and it’s something I will never forget.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York

gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit, and you’ll see God’s grace very much at work.”

“You feel a beautiful sense of resignation and direction as you see things unfolding,” Cardinal Dolan said.

“It was a very beautiful experience and it’s something I will never forget,” he added.

The procession into the Sistine Chapel was “a magnificent fraternal, apostolic climate and atmosphere to pray together, talk together. ...You could just see a sense that this was in God’s hands, even though that didn’t absolve us from the responsibility and hard work we needed to do” of voting for the right person, he said.

Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto said “I found it to be just an immensely moving experience, profoundly so.”

Cardinal Dolan said it was very emotional when the final ballot revealed Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had reached and then surpassed the two-thirds majority of 77 votes needed to become pope.

“There was big applause first of all when he reached the vote of 77 and we knew ‘here’s the man’ and then when it was announced again at the end with the final tally” there was more applause, and still more when he accepted his election.

“I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place,” Cardinal Dolan said.

He said he wasn’t surprised a successful vote had happened so quickly, after just one and a half days of voting and five ballots.

Seeing living history unfold CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 favorite moment.

It was such a blessing to be present that evening, and after coming back to campus (where I am director for the University of Mary), I was tired and hungry. But I quickly forgot this after I started to speak with our students about their experience. They were so joyful they could hardly speak. I have never seen such excitement in 20-year-olds over a man that they hardly knew! It was extraordinary!

For the next few hours, we talked about the night, Skyped home with friends and family as well as with several news outlets. We had a privileged view of this once-in-a-lifetime event and we knew that we had to share [it] with those who couldn’t be here for it.

ELECTING AN ARGENTINIAN POPE: is a strong signal of the changing dynamics of the Catholic Church in the world. There is much fruit in the Christian communities in areas like South and Latin America. New models of church ministry and lay apostolates are flourishing. These are areas of extraordinary faith, not in spite of their poverty and lower living standards, but maybe partly due to this simple . . . lifestyle.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio set an example of how lay men and women can identify with Church leadership, as he made an effort to live simply, like they do. He knows that Christ is present in the poor,

the beggar, the sick and suffering. In their choice, the cardinals have shown us that they have not forgotten the poor and know that the Church needs to remind itself of its simple and humble roots.

CATHOLICS CAN EXPECT FROM POPE FRANCIS: a new and fresh sense of servant leadership to the Church, through his choice of his name and his insistence on not being flashy/showy, but a humble bishop. Another thing we can expect is that he will continue to teach and espouse the truths of the Church, which were revealed by Jesus Christ. But I think he will teach us these same truths in a new and relatable way, so as to bring back or re-evangelize many who have strayed from the Church.

FOR ME PERSONALLY: it was aweinspiring to witness the conclave and election. In many ways, seeing the living history of the Church unfold has enriched my faith.

There is so much unrest in the world, so much violence and so much secularism and persecution of the Christian faith. It is hard to imagine how God works in such dire situations.

At times like this, many turn to the pope as a person who rises above this melee and brings us back to Jesus, who is the way, truth and life.

With the election of Pope Francis, I am reminded to trust in the providence of God that he will not abandon his Church, and that the Holy Spirit is always working through the people chosen to lead it.

“He’s already won our hearts,” he said.

After he was elected and put on his papal vestments, Pope Francis did not choose to sit on a special white chair that had been set up for him on an elevated platform. Instead “he looked at [it] and said ‘I’ll stay down here,’ so he met with each us on our own level,” Cardinal Dolan said.

A new name The pope’s choice of the name Francis did not surprise anybody, the cardinal said, because the pope had been known “for his beautiful care and love for the poor in Buenos Aires” and his humility in taking the bus to work every day.

The pope’s habit of taking the bus apparently was not easy to break.

After Pope Francis greeted the crowds in the square, he and the cardinals left the apostolic palace to return to their lodgings at Domus Sanctae Marthae. But, instead of getting in the papal car that was waiting for him, the pope took one of the mini-buses with the rest of the cardinals.

“I guess he told the driver, ‘That’s OK I’ll just go with the guys on the bus,’” Cardinal Dolan said.

His simplicity and sense of humor were apparent when the pope asked the cardinals to join him in a meal together.

“We toasted him and then he toasted us and he said, ‘May God forgive you’” for having elected him pope, which “brought the house down” with laughter, Cardinal Dolan said.

Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl said he was particularly impressed that the new pope joined the cardinals for dinner. The fact that he “just walked in and ate with us,” the cardinal said, was “so simple and unpretentious.”

When Cardinal Dolan was asked by the New York press how he felt about the Italians rooting for him to be pope, he said with a laugh: “I didn’t take those things seriously.

I’d like to say this, especially to the New York press: ‘I told you so!’”

Seminarian: ‘I have a father again’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 wildfire — like his age, former position, and his defense of Church teaching. I was very encouraged to hear this and to hear that he had actively combated the misguided strains of “liberation theology” in Argentina. . . .

In an interview here at the college, Cardinal [Timothy] Dolan talked about how when [Pope Francis] was elected, after coming out of the room with the cardinals, there was a line of dignitaries that wanted to meet him. He thanked them for being there, but then he asked for them to excuse him so that he could come out and greet the crowds in the square because he said he knew they had been waiting a long time in the rain. The more I heard about him, the more I admired him and thanked God for giving our cardinals the wisdom to elect such a holy man!

ELECTING AN ARGENTINIAN POPE: shows how important the Church of Latin America is for the future of the Church. Along with the upcoming World Youth Day in Buenos Aires, the Catholic hierarchy recognizes that this is a battleground for the faith, since Catholics have often been led away from the faith.

CATHOLICS CAN EXPECT FROM POPE FRANCIS: a holy, humble man who will lead the Church in continuity with the legacy of Bishop Emeritus of Rome, Benedict XVI, and our previous popes. I think he will continue to lead the charge in the new evangelization,

perhaps with a particular emphasis on matters of social justice. As archbishop, he spent a great deal of time in the slums and had a special place in his heart for the poor, the infirm and the unborn.In his own gentle and humble way, I think he will bring a message of conversion, not merely to the curia, but to all of us, since we all need it.

It seems that the exercise of his leadership will primarily be by his deeds. Yesterday, immediately after asking our Blessed Mother to bless his papacy at Santa Maria Maggiore, he stopped by the Casa del Clero where he was staying to personally pay his bill. I heard he did this to give an example to other bishops and cardinals.

FOR ME PERSONALLY: This might seem like an exaggeration, but in a spiritual sense, it is like I have a father again. I’ll look up to this father not only for his teaching, when I hear him nearly every week at the Angelus, but also in simply how he lives his life. I certainly felt like something was missing in my spiritual life during the “Sede Vacante,” especially since there was no current Holy Father to pray for.

AS FAR AS THE NEW POPE’S TRACK RECORD: I was very happy to hear about his uncompromising defense of Church teaching, both in regards as to issues in the secular culture as well as [to] the Church hierarchy in Argentina.

I was very glad to hear that his great efforts in matters of social justice had the issues of unborn life front and center.

WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

MARCH 21, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Not liberal, not conservative: simply Catholic

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human life is sacred, that God has ordered the universe in ways that allow our human dignity to flourish, and that we must treat every person we meet as if they are Christ himself.

This isn’t anything new: The Church has a robust body of Catholic social teaching on these matters, rooted in Scripture and Tradition, that dates back millennia.

This teaching calls us to something beyond mere politics, beyond the requirements of this world to the requirements of the next — even if as sinners we fail to live up to that calling at times.

eeting with journalists a few days after his election, Pope Francis talked about how difficult it is for the media to cover the Church as a spiritual institution. Many reporters, it seems, fail to understand that a conclave is more about prayer than politicking, more about responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit than what the latest polls may show.

This tendency to cover a papal election much like one would cover an American presidential race — complete with preelection speculation Joe Towalski about frontrunners and long shots — also reveals the secular media’s predilection to frame elections, both political and papal, through a timeworn and less-than-helpful liberal-vs.-conservative lens.

Lesson for all

Editorial

Seeing the whole picture In the case of Pope Francis, media pundits are having a hard time determining what they see through that lens.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires for the last 15 years, he had been a strong advocate for traditional marriage and an outspoken opponent of abortion. Does that make him a conservative at heart?

At the same time, he has revealed a special place in his heart for the poor — speaking out against unjust economic policies, washing the feet of recovering drug addicts on Holy Thursday and supporting the rights of migrant workers. As pope, he has already mentioned the need to protect the environment. Do these actions reveal liberal tendencies?

CNS photo / Enrique Garcia Medina, Reuters

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, washes the feet of residents of a shelter for drug users during Holy Thursday Mass in 2008 at a church in a poor neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The fact is neither label is accurate. Pope Francis isn’t “liberal” or “conservative” in the way the media like to use those monikers. The pope and the views he espouses are thoroughly, and simply,

Catholic.

What many in the media and the toooften-polarized general public fail to see is the thread that connects and runs through all of these issues: a belief that all

There is a lesson here for journalists who seek to pigeonhole Pope Francis — as they often tried to do with previous popes — without understanding the full body and broad swath of Church teaching.

But there is a lesson for us, too.

Pope Francis reminds us that, as Catholics, each of us is called to embrace the Gospel and the fullness of the Church’s teachings — not just the teachings that happen to fit comfortably with our political views, whatever they may be.

Some of these teachings are easy to embrace; others are more challenging — as they should be if we want to live more like Christ and less like the fallible human beings we are.

In this Year of Faith, which also is a time we are being invited to learn more about our faith through the local Rediscover: initiative, our new Holy Father serves as a model of how to live a life of prayer and outreach, a life that transcends the limits of secular labels and is open to the power and persuasion of the Holy Spirit — the same Spirit that moved the cardinals of the conclave to select Pope Francis to lead Christ’s Church.

‘Quo vadis,’ Pope Francis?

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he story is that when the Apostle Peter, the first bishop of Rome, was leaving the city because of the persecutions against the early Christians, he encountered the Lord Jesus on his way into the Roman capital, and asked him: “Quo vadis, Domine?” — “Where are you going, Lord?”

Probably the most asked question that I’ve heard since the election of Pope Francis has been, “What kind of pope do you think he’ll be?”

The easy answer is, “He will shepherd us with the heart of Christ.”

Father But, most people — Timothy Cloutier Catholics and nonCatholics alike — are looking for something a little more specific. One way of knowing will be when Pope Francis issues his first encyclical letter, in that he will most likely lay out his understanding of why he believes God chose him to guide his Church, the gifts he will put at the service of the Lord’s flock, how he intends to do that, as well as the invitation he will give us to follow and to share with him in his mission.

Commentary

Clear indications In the meantime, however, I believe he has already given us some clear indica-

tions. There are many and varied questions and issues that he will need to address, some of them not directly bearing on the greater part of the Catholic faithful, such as the reform of the Roman curia.

But he has already “walked the talk” on the preferential option of the Church for the poor of this world as the archbishop of Buenos Aires, and it seems that he wants this to be the hallmark of his papacy. It is here that his leadership of the universal Church will, and should most importantly, impact the rest of us.

We’ve all been impressed, and I think pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and spontaneity of his dealings with the people with whom he has interacted so far.

We can admire and even feel good that we have a “people’s pope,” as the press has dubbed him, but it can’t stop there.

As the Lord Jesus himself said in the course of the Last Supper, “I have left you an example, that as I have done, you also should do” (John 13:15). Admiration is good, but imitation is the highest form of praise.

Will we follow?

So, where is Pope Francis going, and where does he want to lead us?

Each of us needs to look into ourselves to see, first of all, if we are willing to follow him, as St. Peter was willing to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd, back into the city of Rome.

Pope Francis asked his fellow Argentini-

of his dignified status. Would we be will-

ing to follow his example by simplifying “Each of us needs to look our own lives and do with a little less into ourselves to see, first of “stuff” — the latest social-oriented mustall, if we are willing to follow haves and upgrades, the premium channels and the newest electronics, the big him, as St. Peter was willing and expensive gas-guzzler that we really don’t need anyway? What about all the to follow Jesus, the Good other “big kid toys” that form part of our Shepherd, back into the city non-stop entertainment-oriented culture?

Church of the poor of Rome.”

Father Timothy Cloutier ans not to flock to Rome for his installation, but rather, as he asked when he was created a cardinal, to give that travel money to a charity that helps the poor.

Would we be willing to follow his example and divert, even on a one-time proposition, what we would otherwise spend on our recreation to a charitable work of the Church or some other organization that helps the needy?

He has washed the feet of AIDS patients in Argentina, not just the symbolic washing of feet of a select few, healthy and clean parishioners on Holy Thursday.

Would we be willing to follow his example and “roll up our sleeves” to serve the needy at a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen, perhaps once a month?

He has forgone much of the already simplified pomp and circumstance of papal ceremonies and protocol, the symbols

Pope Francis has shown he cares about feeding the starving of this world. Studies have shown, in fact, that the current arable land could support three to four times the actual population of the planet without reclaiming wetlands or irrigating deserts.

The world’s hunger problem has to do with distribution, not supply. Would we be willing to cut back on our junk food snacks, limit the number of times we go out to eat, and give that money to a food shelf or organization that purchases food for distribution to the impoverished around the corner and around the world?

I think we all already know what kind of Pope Francis is and what he wants the Church to be at this time: “a poor Church, and a Church of the poor,” as he has already said. The more important question is: Are we willing to follow him?

Father Cloutier is a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

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WELCOMING OUR NEW SHEPHERD

CATHOLIC SPIRIT • MARCH 21, 2013

“Now let’s begin this journey, bishop and people, this journey of the church of Rome, which is the one that presides in charity over all the churches — a journey of brotherhood, love and trust among us. Let us pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there be a great brotherhood.”

— Pope Francis, speaking after his election as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica

Congratulations on your election Pope Francis!

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Jewish Community Relations Council

St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women

School Sisters of Notre Dame

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