PARIS Jan 8 (Reuters) - Who is Pope Francis? Where is he
taking the Roman Catholic Church? What made him into the man we
see today?
Questions like this have swirled around the Vatican since
the little-known Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected
pope in March of last year, and many Catholics are still not
sure how to describe him.
In "The Great Reformer", British Catholic writer Austen
Ivereigh connects the pope to his Argentine roots, showing how
his country, its culture and its politics helped shape him.
Ivereigh, former deputy editor of the London Catholic weekly The
Tablet and former spokesman for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor,
spoke to Reuters about the book.
Q: There were lots of books about Pope Francis after his
election. Why another one?
A: Those books focus mostly on his period as
cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires. My interest has been in
what you might call the deep past of Argentine history and the
Church in Argentina. Twenty years ago, I did my doctorate on the
subject.
Q: What is most Argentine about him?
A: Culturally, he is very "porteno" - of Buenos Aires - in
his accent, his way of speaking and sense of humour. It's very
much like a pope speaking in a New Jersey accent. What makes him
Argentine in a much deeper way is the experience of coming out
of a Catholic, nationalist and populist political culture. And
what makes him distinct in Argentina is that he's lower-middle
class.
Q: Initial reports after his election said Cardinal Jorge
Bergoglio was a conservative Jesuit who later became a liberal
bishop. You don't agree with that view.
A: The misreading of Peronism and nationalism as a form of
fascism is what really underlies this. Much of the controversy
over Bergoglio after his election, such as his position under
the dictatorship during the Dirty War, stems from that
misreading. Both the guerrillas and the dictatorship were
factions in a dispute between two elite ideologies, neither of
which spoke to the interests of ordinary people. Bergoglio
always rooted himself in the ordinary, simple, faithful and
uneducated people. In that sense, he is a populist. He was never
a conservative, never a right-winger, and he never became a
liberal.
Q: Did he speak as freely and vividly years ago as he does
now?
A: Some of his early writings are very restrained, almost
ascetic. But from the beginning, there are really startling
phrases. Many he's made famous as pope, such as wanting pastors
who "smell of their sheep", he first used in the early 1980s.
Q: He had a reputation as a humourless man, but he seems so
jolly.
A: In Argentina, they say he never smiled. Actually, there
are many people who saw the joyful side of him, especially the
charismatic Catholics and evangelical pastors with whom he used
to pray and the poor people in the shantytowns.
Q: What changes will he make in the world Church?
A: First, he is introducing a far more collaborative and
collegial form of governance. The second area is in putting the
Church on a more missionary footing. Third, in Buenos Aires he
brought about a model of Christian unity based on deep
friendship, praying together and working together, rather than
theological and institutional dialogue. Now as pope he's doing
the same, especially with evangelical and Pentecostal
Christians.
Q: The book is called "The Great Reformer". Why?
A: I'm convinced his will be seen as one of the great
reforming papacies, even if he himself may not last long as pope
... Even though there is considerable opposition to him, I think
the reforms he's introducing are irreversible.
(Reporting by Tom Heneghan; Editing by Michael Roddy and Susan
Fenton)