News
A strong faith in Pope Francis
Scott Wagar
03/19/2013
As Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio presented himself on the balcony of the Vatican on Wednesday evening in Rome as Pope Francis he became a church leader with a unique personality as the Vicar of Christ to more than one billion Catholics worldwide, and, a man of many firsts.
As Francis presented himself to the people in the Vatican Square, it took a lot of people by surprise. He wasn’t on the short list of cardinals believed to be the next pope. It was also believed that the cardinals would chose a younger priest to be the next pope, and consider that Bergoglio is 76 years old, no one really thought he would be chosen.
“With the cardinals there is a saying that if you go into the conclave a pope you come out a cardinal,” said Father Paul Schuster, the priest of St. Marks Catholic Church in Bottineau. “The front runners almost never win, but some how they always get the person we need at the time.”
Schuster is pleased with the 115 cardinals involved in the conclave who chose Francis as the next bishop of Rome.
“Everything I heard about him I am really happy about. He seems to have a deep concern for the poor. The story is that John Paul II was a great philosopher, Benedict XVI was a great theologian and now we have someone who has more of a pastoral background, but he also has an academic background,” Schuster said. “His background and his history are going to bring something different. Dealing with poverty in a lot of Central and South American countries it is going to be different. His beliefs are not going to be different, but I think his background definitely changes his emphasis.”
When it comes to Francis’s background, he is a pope with a unique background. He was born in Buenos Aires to an Italian father. Francis is known in caring for the poor with simplicity and lives a life like his parishioners.
As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he refused to live in a palace provided for him. Instead, he rented a small apartment, lived by himself and cooked his own meals. He turned down a limousine and rode a public bus each day to work. The day after being named pope of the Roman Catholic Church, he made his way back to the hotel he was staying in to pay the bill himself, and carried his own luggage back to the Vatican.
His individuality showed even more when he broke tradition during his introduction to the world on the Vatican balcony when he asked the crowd before him to pray for him, instead of granting them a blessing first, showing his humbleness and appeared to be just one of the crowd who he stood before.
Francis is also one of many firsts for the Catholic Church. He is the first non-European pope, the first Argentinean pope, the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope and the first pope to name himself after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the poor.
Although distinctive in many ways, Francis is also very traditional and it is unexpected that he will make any major changes in the Catholic faith. He is part of the most conservative wing of the church, and considering that John Paul II and Benedict XVI appointed the 117 cardinals in this present conclave, Francis’s church theology is more than likely no different than the last two popes and the men who voted him in as pope.
So, Catholics alike shouldn’t see any changes in women’s rights, abortion or gay marriages.
However, Schuster stated that no one ever knows what is going to happen when a new pope is elected.
“It is doubtful that any changes will be made, and I have no idea, but you never know,” Schuster said. “When Pope John XXIII was elected pope in 1958 or ‘59, everyone saw a lot of changes going on. The story was that he was an older guy and they thought let’s take this caretaker, this kind of administrator guy who won’t do anything, and make him pope; well, he called the Second Vatican Council, which revolutionized everything.
“Even he didn’t see it coming because when he called the council he had the bishops come to Rome and he had the agenda made up and pretty much wrote down the decisions he wanted to make,” Schuster added. “But, the bishops said, ‘No, let’s do something different,’ and John said, ‘What do you want to do?’ They took four days off and came up with a different agenda and came back to him and the Vatican II came to be. So, you never know what you are going to get.”
Even though it is doubtful that Francis will make any big changes in the Catholic’s ideology, if he does decide to make changes, he can do so without any authority over ruling him. However, Schuster said that no pope would govern in such a manner.
“In theory that is true, he can solely make changes without anyone’s permission, but that’s not the way it really happens. He wouldn’t have to bring it before a board, but he would,” Schuster said. “What he says, when he speaks as pope, is the law of the church, but a pope tends to be very careful about changes in the laws of the church.”
What is know about Francis is that he has a subservient heart for the world and as the new pope he will bring hope and love to the earth and serve those who need a good samaritan in their time of need.
For Schuster, he is at peace with Francis as the pope, and is looking forward in seeing what he does in the Catholic Church.
“I have a strong faith in Pope Francis and I am hopeful,” he said. “He is something different, he is outside the mode. We have had some real academic popes recently and he is bringing something different I think. Time is going to tell what comes next.”