Fr Ambrose Pinto SJ
Mangaluru, Dec 17: Pope Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics will be completing 80 years on December 17. Elected in 2013 to the Office of the Papacy on the resignation of Pope Benedict, the first Pope to resign, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires of Argentina took the name of Francis as Pope.
Ever since, he has transformed the longstanding conservative image of the Catholic Church becoming the most popular figure of the age, a global icon. With scams and scandals at the Vatican among its cardinals, bishops, religious and priests accused of pompous and at times worldly lives at his taking over the papacy, Pope Francis has changed that image of the church so much that the church has come to be associated with the poor and the downtrodden.
According to the WIN/Gallup International poll of 1000 people in 64 countries conducted a few months ago Pope Francis was more popular as a global leader than any other. The Catholics, Jews, Protestants and even the majority of atheists and agnostics have viewed him favourably. BBC religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt had said that the Pope has enjoyed enormous goodwill and won the hearts and minds not just of Roman Catholics but also of people from other religions and the non-religious.
The President of the WIN/Gallup poll President Jean-Marc Leger had said: "Pope Francis is a leader who transcends his own religion. Our study shows that an ample majority of citizens of the world, of different religious affiliations and across regions, have a favourable image of the Pope."
He has won several global titles in the last three years. Time magazine named him its "Person of the Year," less than nine months after he became pontiff. He has the distinction of being one of three leaders—alongside Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook— to make Fortune’s list every year of its existence. He is the first non-European to be awarded the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, Germany, for work done in the service of European unification. He has won the Bambi – Millennium Award and International Book Award for his Loyola Press title “Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters from Children Around the World”. He was Awarded The 2016 Global Teacher Prize by a Palestinian group. The first pope to take the name of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, is also the first to be picked as PETA’s Person of the Year.
His achievements in international affairs have been immense. Pope Francis played a key role in brokering a deal between the U.S. and Cuba, writing letters to both Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro encouraging the two nations to find common ground. At his very first visit to USA, without any hesitation he spoke against capitalism making use of powerful expressions like the “dung of the devil,” criticizing “the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.” And his Laudato si’ encyclical calling for “swift and unified global action” in defense of the environment undoubtedly gave momentum to the effort that led to a global climate change pact in Paris.
Pope Francis is a global leader because his agenda is global. He has raised the issue of global warming and the protection of the environment. He has opposed capitalism and has proposed an economy that sustains all people. His leadership is of service, washing the feet of the neglected and excluded. He has embraced diversity and dialogue and has been all embracing of people who think differently and has dared to find common grounds to pursue solidarity collectively.
As he celebrates his 80th birthday we have reasons to be grateful for his gift of life to the global community as he lives a life of a witness more than of a teacher, through his life of simplicity, authenticity and faith. We pray for many more years of life to the Pope to inspire the global community to live a life of caring and sharing.