Letter From the UK (About Pope Francis)

Pope Francis, the radical from Flores who will 'reshape' Catholic church

Former colleagues and parishioners say disciplined and divine Jesuit will reform power structure, strictly control finances, and check Vatican pomp

The Guardian

Jonathan Watts and Uki Goni in Buenos Aires
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 16 March 2013

The ascension of Pope Francis is likely to usher in the most radical change in the Catholic church in more than 50 years, claim those who know the Argentinian Jesuit from the barrio of Buenos Aires where he was born and cut his political teeth.  Zero tolerance of sexual abuse, stricter control of church finances, a shift away from Eurocentrism, more emphasis on poverty, and a ruthless purge of high-ranking opponents in the Vatican can be expected in the years ahead, according to priests and laymen who have spent decades watching the career of the first Latin American pope.


 Jorge Bergoglio, as he was known until last week, was born to an Italian migrant family in 1957 in Flores, a down-to-earth and socially divided barrio just outside the centre of the Argentinian capital.  Domingo Bresci, a priest who studied with Bergoglio in the 50s and later worked with him in Flores, said the new pope was not a person to take half measures.  Holding up a copy of Fridays' La Nación newspaper with the headline "The Revolution of Francisco: Humility and Austerity", Bresci said the world should brace for a transformation of one of its oldest and most conservative religions. . . .

As a Jesuit – an order founded by a general and organised on military lines – Bergoglio demands discipline. When he was made vicar general of Flores in 1992, he insisted that church authorities reveal the properties they owned. The senior padre in charge of episcopal finances, Jose Luis Mollaghan, tried to block the initiative. Bergoglio did not forgive or forget. When he became archbishop, he shuffled Molaghan out of his post, along with another cleric who opposed him, Hector Aguer.

Those who know him said Pope Francis is likely to do the same in the Vatican by clearing out the powerful old guard of cardinals, such as Tarcisco Bertoni and Angelo Sodano, who have been accused of dragging their feet over the church's finance and sexual abuse scandals, as well as his long-term Argentinian rival, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

"Slowly and strategically, he will introduce changes as he becomes more powerful and others become weaker. Until now, no pope has been able to do that," said Bresci, who predicts the transformation to be the biggest in half a century or more.  "He will be strict on finance. There will be zero tolerance of sexual abuse and homosexual liaisons by priests. This is his style. It comes from Flores."

We will see what transpires, mindful of the view of Doug Wilson that a reforming pope will need to have something like Dirty Harry about him.  Maybe Bergoglio's mien and career to date reflect exactly those required qualities.