In a 2013 interview with Father Antonio Spadaro, Pope Francis refers to Caravaggio’s painting the Calling of Saint Matthew at the Church of St. Louis in Rome, “It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze” (as translated in America magazine).
Four years would pass before Jorge tells anyone about his vocational discernment. Meanwhile, he continued his studies and work in food chemistry, but he spent more time alone in silent prayer. He eventually graduated from the University of Buenos Aires. At the age of twenty-one, Jorge felt the time was right to make a serious move toward realizing his vocation. Jorge first told his father about his decision to enter seminary. His father was pleased with his choice, but his mother had a different reaction. When he told his mother, she was hesitant and did not accept his decision for many years. His mother never visited him in seminary; even through they visited together when he would come home on vacation. Jorge, however, recalls his mother kneeling and asking for his blessing on his ordination day. Jorge kept close to his heart the way his Grandma Rosa was unconditionally supportive of him during his discernment. She was pleased that he was pursuing the priesthood, but also said she would support and welcome him back if he decided it wasn’t for him.
Jorge knew that he wanted to join a religious order rather than become a diocesan priest, and he ultimately decided upon the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus, sometimes nicknamed the ‘Marines of God,’ was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 in Paris and has been at the front lines of evangelization. The Jesuits began their ministry in the land that became known as Argentina in 1586, continuing for centuries to found missions, colleges, schools, parishes, and serving the poor throughout the region. Pope Francis recalls in his 2013 interview with Father Spadaro, S.J., “Three things in particular struck me about the Society: the missionary spirit, community and discipline. And this is strange, because I am a really, really undisciplined person. But their discipline, the way they manage their time—these things struck me so much.” He continues, “And then a thing that is really important for me: community. I was always looking for a community. I did not see myself as a priest on my own. I need a community.”
Jorge’s ordination was subject to a process of discernment, and interest in the opposite sex played its role as well. Before his more serious commitment to the priesthood, he had a crush on a girl his age when he was twelve years old. He said he wanted to marry her, but her parents disapproved. When he was in seminary, Jorge met a very beautiful girl at his uncle’s wedding and spent a week struggling on which way he would go. In fact, he recalls that he could not pray that whole week because of his struggle. Still, he remained in seminary and ultimately discerned together with his superiors that his calling to the priesthood was genuine.
The Jesuits have a long and disciplined formation process involving prayer, study, and ministry. For his first three years, Jorge was sent to the archdiocesan seminary, Inmaculada Concepción, in Buenos Aires. After entering the novitiate in 1958, he was sent to Santiago, Chile, to pursue studies in the humanities. In 1960, he took his first vows in the Society of Jesus. In that same year, he earned a licentiate in philosophy, an advanced degree granted by the Church, from the Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
In 1964, Jorge taught literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada, a Jesuit secondary school in Santa Fe, Argentina. Two years later, in 1966, he taught at the Colegio del Salvador secondary school in Buenos Aires. He liked being a teacher and loved his students. Jorge reflects in Ch. 5 of Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio, “I love them very much. They never were, nor are they now, indifferent to me, and I never forgot them. I want to thank them for all the good they did me, particularly for the way they taught me how to be more a brother than a father.” In one of his literature classes, he had the students try their hand at writing short stories. The students loved the project and the stories were good enough that he was able to have them published together in a book. Jorge’s approach to teaching was similar to his approach to everything else; he added a personal touch. He shares, “If you try to educate using only theoretical principles, without remembering that the most important thing is the person in front of you, then you fall into a kind of fundamentalism... they can’t absorb lessons that aren’t accompanied by a life’s testimony and a degree of closeness....” During his days as a teacher, Jorge also taught classes in theology, philosophy, and the humanities.
Jorge Bergoglio, was finally ordained as a priest on December 13, 1969, by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. In 1972, he became a novice master. Following his tertianship period of formation in Alcalá, Spain, he took his final vows in the Society of Jesus on April 22, 1973. Almost immediately after, he was elected provincial of the order in Argentina and Uruguay, in July 31, 1973, serving until 1979. His tenure as provincial coincided with the Dirty War in Argentina between the military dictatorship and guerrilla fighters. Both groups murdered thousands of their perceived opponents. Meanwhile, a growing number of Jesuits wanted to get involved in the conflict. To say the least, Jorge Bergoglio’s job would not be easy.
Dark Days in Argentina
In the early twentieth century, Argentina attracted waves of immigrants as a land of opportunity. The country took a turn in the 1930’s and was hit hard by the world financial collapse and a series of economic hardships. The socioeconomic gap between the rich and poor as well as the plague of rising inflation became perennial issues. Politicians with radical ideologies often appealed to the voters in hopes for better days. Military leaders would intervene to topple radical leaders, bringing about juntas and dictatorships that then provoked guerrilla movements to try to overthrow dictators. The country also had the challenge of walking a fine line between the capitalist United States of America and the communist Soviet Union during the Cold War, trying not to anger either superpower.
Juan Perón, a military officer turned populist leader, was elected president in 1946 and brought progress on some fronts while also creating many enemies. He vastly expanded social programs for the poor while brutally silencing his opponents and committing human rights violations. His left-wing ideology was hard to pin down and simply became known as ‘Peronism.’ He was ousted by the military and exiled in 1955, settling in Spain. Eighteen years later, in 1973, the situation in Argentina had deteriorated such that Perón returned to be elected to a second term at the age of 77. He died the next year and was succeed by his wife, Isabel Martínez de Perón in 1974. By the middle of her short presidency, the Dirty War was underway as she battled anti-communist paramilitary fighters, often continuing her husband’s underhanded means to remain in power. She was promptly ousted and exiled by the military in 1976 in the midst of a crisis that saw rocketing inflation in the country.
Intent on rooting out Peronists and communist sympathizers, the military established the ‘National Reorganization Process,’ which turned out to be a brutal junta lasting several long years, from 1976 to 1983. Under ‘Operation Condor,’ tens of thousands of Argentines suspected of being political dissidents were kidnapped, tortured, and often killed by the military. Pregnant women who were kidnapped were allowed to give birth and their babies were stolen and given to the families of military officers. Afterwards, the women were killed. Suspected dissidents were thrown from military planes to drown in the Atlantic. Bodies of persons executed on land were often mutilated. Meanwhile, various groups of Marxist guerrilla fighters, including the Montonaros, bombed and assassinated people throughout the country. Thousands were killed and kidnapped. To this day, the Argentine people are still coping with the loss and displacement of people during the Dirty War.
To make matters worse, in 1982, in an attempt to rally nationalism around their regime and distract people from internal problems, the junta invaded the Falkland Islands about a thousand miles off the Argenti
ne coast, a group of islands which has been long claimed by Argentina though ruled by the United Kingdom since 1833. In response, British naval fleets, aircraft carriers, and bombers quickly made their way to the south Atlantic, bringing about a swift victory for the United Kingdom. The Falklands War was over in a little over two months, but it came at the expense of hundreds of casualties and the sinking of several warships on both sides. The loss for Argentina, however, led to the disgrace and ultimate collapse of the junta in 1983 and the restoration of democracy.
Moved by the plight of the poor and the harshness of the government, many Jesuit priests rallied around various liberation theologies that were often mixed with Marxist politics and sometimes involvement with the guerrilla warriors. Father Bergoglio was also very interested in the plight of the less fortunate, but he saw dangers for the Church in many of the strains of liberation theology circulating through Latin America. In secondary school, Father Bergoglio had a communist teacher whom he highly regarded and he even read a communist publication, but he never became a communist. Many in Latin America blamed American capitalism for the economic situation in their countries.
As a priest and provincial, Father Bergoglio realized that the Gospel of Christ could not be reduced to any worldly ideology, especially one that is furthered by violent revolution. Many of these liberation theologies substituted the ultimate Christian hope of heaven with a worldly utopia, crowding out the Gospel’s emphasis on liberation from sin and death in favor of liberation from socioeconomic oppression. Furthermore, it was clear to Father Bergoglio that priests, as leaders of the Church and men set apart, must never take up arms or participate in murderous acts against the oppressors. He also had to maintain the safety of the Jesuits during the junta. As provincial, Father Bergoglio was firm with priests who confused preaching the Gospel with furthering ideology and associated closely with the guerrillas. He even had to dismiss some priests from the Society of Jesus who refused to comply.
In the mid 1980’s, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued two corrective documents with regard to liberation theology. The documents, promulgated by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, affirmed the authentic message of Christian liberation from sin as well as the Church’s preferential option for the poor while warning strongly against confusing the Gospel with worldly ideology or violent revolution. After Father Bergoglio became pope, Father Lombardi, the Vatican press secretary, said, “Regarding ‘liberation theology’: Bergoglio has always referred to the Instructions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He has always rejected violence, saying that its price is always paid by the weakest” (as quoted in Ch. 7 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson, which also further explains the situation in Argentina and the Jesuits during that time). Some of the priests’ close ties with the resistance, in fact, would lead to near tragedy.
Bergoglio’s Peaceful Secret Resistance
Two Jesuits in particular, Father Orlando Yorio and Father Francisco Jalics, who worked among the poor in the favela, or slum, of Buenos Aires persisted in politically charged teachings. Their preaching came to the attention of the junta after the military arrested a man that worked with the priests before joining the guerillas. The two Jesuits disappeared in 1976 and were held captive by the military at the Navy Mechanics School, a site infamous for the torture and killing during the junta.
At the time, the Church in Argentina was often silent about the atrocities of the Dirty War. The bishops later issued apologies for the omissions made by clergy. In the 2000’s, victims' advocacy groups accused Cardinal Bergoglio of also being silent about the kidnapping and even, perhaps, abetting the junta with the task. These accusations resurfaced in the media once again when Bergoglio ascended to the papacy.
In 2013, reporter Nello Scavo published a book in Italy, “La Lista di Bergoglio” (Bergoglio’s List). He used interviews with former Argentine fugitives, various interviews with Bergoglio, and court documents to reveal what actually took place during the Dirty War. Sandro Magister, a Vatican expert, writes in a review of the book, “What the young provincial of the Argentine Jesuits at the time did during those years long remained a mystery. So dense as to prompt the suspicion that he had passively witnessed the horror, or worse, had exposed to greater danger some of his confrères, those most committed among the resistance.” In November 2010, lawyers representing victims of the Dirty War extensively examined Cardinal Bergoglio in a court proceeding and questioned why he met with Jorge Videla and Emilio Massera, leaders of the juanta. Perhaps, they insinuated, he was a co-conspirator with the dictators. After all, during their time in captivity, Father Yorio and Father Jalics were told by their captors that Father Bergoglio was the one that betrayed them, and Father Bergoglio did not publicly call out for their release.
Father Bergoglio recognized that a public call for the release of the priests would be a very dangerous act for both him and his order. Instead, he arranged secretly to plead for their release. In a letter to Father Jalics’ brother, Father Bergoglio wrote, “I have lobbied the government many times for your brother’s release. So far we have had no success. But I have not lost hope that your brother will soon be released. I have made this affair MY thing. The difficulties that your brother and I have had over the religious life have nothing to do with it” (as quoted in Ch. 7 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson).
Risking his own life, Father Bergoglio was determined to speak face to face with Jorge Videla, the general at the helms of the junta government, and Admiral Massera. His interest with Massera, a naval admiral high in the juanta, was to get to Videla in order to plead for the release of the priests. Not successful in his first meeting with Videla, Father Bergoglio committed to try again. Father Bergoglio found the priest who routinely held Mass for Videla at his home and convinced him to call in sick one day so he could trade places with the priest. He went to the general’s home to say Mass and then approached Videla. Videla confirmed that, as Father Bergoglio had suspected, Father Yorio and Father Jalics were indeed being held at the Naval Mechanics School. He then approached Massera. In 2010, Bergoglio shared with the court his conversation with the admiral: “‘Look, Massera, I want them back alive.’ I got up and left.” The next day, the two priests were released, after five months into their ordeal, drugged, and dropped from a helicopter into a marsh.
The priests later realized that Father Bergoglio had not betrayed them to the juanta and were reconciled to him. Father Jalics now lives in Germany and has supported Bergoglio’s papacy. Father Lombardi at the Vatican countered the attacks on Bergoglio for these events: “The accusations pertain to a use of historical-sociological analysis of the dictatorship period made years ago by left-wing anticlerical elements to attack the Church. They must be firmly rejected” (as quoted in Ch. 7 of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson). But this was not all. Father Bergoglio in fact had much to hide from the juanta.
Bergoglio admitted in interviews that he helped to hide wanted persons from the juanta during the Dirty War and even provided his own identification to a wanted man who resembled him. The book, “Bergoglio’s List”, reveals that Father Bergoglio was actually the mastermind of a secret network carefully orchestrated to hide and transport targeted persons. The network worked from a Jesuit institution that was located only a few blocks away from the president’s palace. Fugitives were enrolled at the Colegio Máximo seminary in San Miguel as students or retreatants. Neither the fugitives nor Bergoglio’s collaborators knew who among them was a fugitive and who was an actual student. They were only told enough information to accomplish their particular mission. According to Magister, “Bergoglio was the only one who held all the strings.” Fugitives were often transported to Brazil secretly by land or to Uruguay by cargo boat and passed for hired help. According to Father Juan Scannone, a Jesuit who worked with Father Bergoglio, “If one of us had known and had been abducted and subjected to torture, the whole network of protection would have fallen apart. Father Bergoglio wa
s aware of this risk, and for this reason he kept everything secret. A secret that he maintained even afterward, because he never wanted to boast about that exceptional mission of his.”
In addition to saving at least dozens of lives, this time prepared Father Bergoglio for his future leadership in the Church. Father Bergoglio believed that many of his homeland’s problems could be boiled down to a lack of solidarity and a lack of concern for one’s fellow countrymen that are different either politically or socioeconomically. There were many factions in the country that divide the rich and the poor, and throughout the years many sad and emotionally charged events that have widened that chasm. Even though the country is rich in natural resources, many of the resources have not been developed, which make the cities the main venue for possible employment. The poor lack education and have fallen into a pattern of dependency; many have not had the opportunity to develop a real work ethic. Furthermore, the poverty rate in Argentina has multiplied exponentially over the past decades. Father Bergoglio speaks of the poor, “It is everyone’s responsibility: it is mine, just as it is the bishops’, all Christians’, and those who spend money without a clear social conscience” (see Ch. 10 of Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio for his reflections on the problems within Argentina). Soon enough, Father Bergoglio would have an opportunity on a national scale to do what he could to promote a ‘culture of cooperation.’
Pope Francis (Pastor of Mercy) Page 2
