“Todos, Todos, Todos”

For 10 years, Pope Francis has been a voice for people at the margins of society, and the environment, but not without controversy in either case

By Amy Korpi

Only 250 years ago, the Jesuits were in danger of being driven out of existence. Under pressure from the royal courts of Europe, who had become wary of the Society of Jesus’ influence and independence, Pope Clement XIV formally suppressed the order, forcing its members throughout the world to renounce their vows and go into exile.

Pope Clement XIV had been educated by Jesuits in the city of Rimini in northern Italy, so the decision must have been a painful one for him. Besides that, Jesuits have always taken a fourth vow—in addition to poverty, chastity and obedience—that specifically professes their loyalty and obedience to the pope. In plain language, Jesuits offer their individual service to the pope in any way it is needed, anywhere in the world.

After 41 years of suppression, on Aug. 7, 1814, the Society was restored by Pope Pius VII. Considering the circumstances of that time, it would have been difficult to envision a Jesuit pope. Yet just less than 200 years later, on March 13, 2013, white smoke issued from the chimney of the papal conclave, signifying that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires had accepted his canonical nomination. The world had its first Jesuit pope. A surprise to many, he had not been well known even among his fellow Jesuits.

Father J. Thomas McClain, SJ, a Midwest Jesuit who served as general treasurer for the Society of Jesus at the Curia in Rome when the pope was elected, witnessed the transition in real time. “On the second day of the conclave, after the fifth ballot, I suggested to another U.S. Jesuit who was visiting that we go to the roof to witness what we thought would be black smoke.”

But the smoke was white.

“When I eventually heard that the new pope was an Argentine cardinal named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and a Jesuit, I wasn’t sure who he was,” Fr. McClain says. “When he appeared on the balcony and asked everyone there to pray for him, you could have heard a pin drop. It was an overwhelming moment.”

Born in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936, to Italian immigrant parents, the boy who would become Pope Francis was the first of five children. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1958 and was ordained in 1969. As pope, he took the name Francis not to honor Society of Jesus co-founder St. Francis Xavier, as many observers likely first thought, but to honor St. Francis of Assisi and his legacy of caring for the poor.

The day the pope was chosen, Fr. Tom Lawler, SJ, was provincial of what was known then as the Wisconsin Province. “In our offices in Milwaukee there was a room with a large wall-mounted TV for video conferences,” he says. “We had it turned on that day so the staff could watch the news as the story was unfolding. None of us had kept a ‘tally,’ nor did we know that a Jesuit was being considered.”

Upon hearing the announcement and realizing the local news stations would soon be calling, Fr. Lawler snapped into action. “I immediately asked someone to Google his name and print out information for me,” Fr. Lawler says. “When the camera crews came to the office for interviews and commentary, the only information I had was an internet search result!”

Father Tim Kesicki, SJ, then provincial of the former Chicago-Detroit Province, felt the same pressure. “But as I learned more about him, I felt this incredible sense of history being made,” Fr. Kesicki says. “This was a pope of many unexpected firsts: the first Jesuit, first to take the name of Francis, and first to hail from either the western or southern hemisphere. There was a great significance to the new Holy Father coming from a continent where almost half of the world’s Catholics live and pray.”

Eventually, Pope Francis would also be the first to address the United States Congress and leaders on the Arabian Peninsula (the birthplace of Islam) to promote religious fraternity and peace.

One Midwest Jesuit, Br. Mike Zimmerman, SJ, was not surprised by the College of Cardinals’ choice. He was serving at Holy Rosary Mission on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota at the time, and when someone told him the new pontiff was from Argentina, he immediately asked, “Bergoglio?”

The two had met in Argentina when Br. Zimmerman was missioned there to help build a Jesuit university between 1964 and 1981. As provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, from 1973 to 1979, Fr. Bergoglio visited the project, and Br. Zimmerman found him easy to talk to. “It was enjoyable to be with him,” Br. Zimmerman says. “He was the kind of person you felt at home with.”

He was also humble and ready to serve in whatever way was needed. “When he was novice master [at Villa Barilari in San Miguel, Argentina, in the early 1970s], he did the hard work of slopping the pigs just like he’d ask anyone else to do,” Br. Zimmerman says. “But there was much more, an inspiring spirituality, openness, sense of mercy and deep care for others.”

During an economic crisis in Argentina in the late 1990s, Fr. Bergoglio’s reputation for humility and concern for the poor became more public, as he lived in a simple downtown apartment instead of the archbishop’s residence and traveled by public transportation or on foot.

It is a practice he continued in Rome, deciding to live in a guest house at the edge of Vatican City instead of the papal apartments, to carry his own briefcase, to be driven around in a small inexpensive car, and to wear a simple tunic rather than more traditional garments befitting his position.

“Power is not just political,” said Time magazine’s managing editor Nancy Gibbs after the magazine named Pope Francis Person of the Year in 2013. “It can be cultural, it can be spiritual.” The first Jesuit pontiff “won hearts and headlines with his common touch and rejection of luxury,” according to the magazine.

It was in this unceremonious spirit that Pope Francis invited then-Father General Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, to a meeting shortly after his election. To start, he made the telephone call himself, alarming and then taking the time to calm a befuddled switchboard operator. When Fr. Nicolás visited, Pope Francis received him at the entrance with an embrace, insisting they use the familiar tú pronoun, for “you” in Spanish, instead of the formal usted.

In a widely circulated online video, Father General Arturo Sosa, SJ, calls Pope Francis’ approach “fresh air” for his life, the life of the Church, and the life of the Society of Jesus. “I think Pope Francis speaks a language I can understand very well,” Fr. Sosa says. “It is the language of the pastors in the barrios and villas in Latin America. You can feel in his way of preaching, his way of reading the Gospel, a long experience to be in touch with the poor people and with the hope of the poor people.”

Father Sosa goes on to say that Pope Francis “invites us to pastoral creativity, to put the pastor, the pastoral way of acting, as a priest, as a Jesuit, as a Christian, before following norms, or following traditions...to really be sensitive to the needs of the person you have in front of you.”

That pastoral emphasis is captured well in a phrase Pope Francis has used often: “The shepherds should have the smell of the sheep.”

In an August 2023 letter to the priests of the Diocese of Rome, he wrote,“…our priestly ministry is not measured by pastoral successes (the Lord himself had fewer and fewer of them as time went by!)…This is the priestly spirit: making ourselves servants of the People of God and not masters, washing the feet of our brethren and not trampling them underfoot… not to be functionaries of the sacred, but passionate proclaimers of the Gospel, not ‘clerics of state,’ but pastors of the people.”

This all rings true to Br. Zimmerman. “During one of our conversations, I remember him saying that he would like to assign every priest to parish work for a while, to get experience in truly knowing the people they’re serving,” he says. “Francis cares not so much about large audiences or those who are important in the worldly sense, but about individual encounters and Christian essentials like mercy.”

Father Kesicki says the pope exhorts us to put the care of souls ahead of discipline or correction: “I think he would say, ‘If my pastoral care of a soul in front of me takes precedence over doctrinal concerns, so be it.’ And he’s reminded us that many of Jesus’ teachings offended the authorities of the time—their power, control, and focus on rules.”

This way of thinking, speaking and acting, has earned Pope Francis a certain amount of detractors, even among Catholics. However, Camille Devaney is not one of them. A Marquette University alumna, and an ardent friend of the Jesuits through her involvement with the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, Ignatian Spirituality Project, Bellarmine and Oshkosh retreat centers, St. Aloysius School in Nairobi, and more, she recalls how excited she was to hear of the elevation of Pope Francis. “I was in grad school in 1966, during the time Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, was superior general, and I admired him very much,” she says. “I hoped Francis would focus on the issues that were important to me, as Arrupe had.”

Pope Francis did just that. “He has universal appeal,” Devaney says. “His concerns are important to everyone, or should be. I see him reaching out to everyone, not just Catholics, and I appreciate how he looks at bigger problems in the world than our western mentality does. I like how he listens to others, and doesn’t approach issues as an autocrat. The Church is a big ship to turn, but his inclusion of women and people of diverse cultures make him a powerful role model. His compassion and recognition of others’ dignity is wonderful.”

Devaney says Pope Francis speaks realistically and inspires collaboration to solve problems, like the damage being done to the environment. In that regard and more, Pope Francis pulls no punches, which has brought out some critics—especially when he uses phrases like “an economy that kills.” His proclaiming that harming the earth is a moral issue spurred by greed and unchecked capitalism, and his connecting actions against the natural world with economic exploitation of impoverished people and disregard for human rights has led some to label him a Marxist, or at least an anti-capitalist.

Other detractors have said Pope Francis is leading the Church astray by flouting long-established doctrine and traditions. As proof they offer his 2013 “Who am I to judge?” comment about an allegedly gay priest, and his “Being homosexual is not a crime.” He engendered further controversy when he washed and kissed the feet of Muslim and Hindu refugees, along with Christian refugees—both men and women—during a Maundy Thursday reenactment of Jesus doing the same for the Twelve Apostles.

Church tradition held that women should not participate in the reenactment because the Apostles were men. This is to say nothing of the leader of the Catholic Church ministering in such a personal way to people of other faith traditions. More recently, Pope Francis extended a gesture of welcome for transgender Catholics. These women, many of whom are Latin American migrants and work as prostitutes, are given VIP seats during monthly visits to general papal audiences, along with meals and items that meet basic needs. He has also expressed his desire to give communion to divorcees who have married again, with opponents saying that undermines the Church’s teachings of second unions being adulterous.

“While Francis has been hugely successful in reaching out to lost sheep, he runs the risk of alienating those already in the fold,” the BBC keenly observed.

In response to critics, the pope has suggested that fixating on one or two issues narrows the breadth of the Church’s mission. As he wrote in a major document in 2018, “Our defense of the innocent unborn… needs to be clear, firm and passionate.

Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned.” More recently, he warned that stagnation threatens “the true tradition” of the Church and runs the risk of ideologies replacing faith.

During a 2023 meeting with Jesuits in Portugal, Pope Francis recalled a parable told by Jesus of a man having a banquet. As he put it, “The invited guests did not want to come … So, he sent out to the streets to call in everyone. The door is open to everyone. Everyone has their own space in the Church. How will each person live it out? It takes a lot of sensitivity and creativity to accompany people spiritually and pastorally. But everyone, everyone, everyone (todos, todos, todos in Spanish) is called to live in the Church.”

“None of us fully anticipated how the Holy Spirit would work through Pope Francis to move the Church forward,” says Fr. Kesicki. “His focus on loving and serving our neighbors makes me think of how, when the Jesuits adopted the Universal Apostolic Preferences (guides for our life and work) in 2019, Fr. Sosa told us to pay attention to the verbs. We should show the pathway to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment, walk with the excluded, journey with youth toward a hope-filled future, and care for our common home.

“We look to popes to be prophetic—in the ancient sense of someone who speaks God’s truth. There’s something [Pope Francis] once said along the lines of, why does a change in the stock market make greater headlines than the death of a homeless person, or inadequate living conditions for migrants? Yes, stock portfolios can help the people of God, but Pope Francis challenges our priorities. When a person dies because the system can’t provide for them, it should make all of us uncomfortable.”

Father Lawler echoes this perspective: “I see Pope Francis showing us how to keep our focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ by our caring for others, especially the poor and marginalized. I think he will be remembered as a pope who shows great love and mercy, who believes that leadership in the Church should be based on a model of service of the least among us. He has shown us a way to preach the Gospel using loving actions and a caring approach which brings people into conversation and dialogue. He has been teaching us about the importance of each personal encounter with another person as revelation of the mystery of God’s loving kingdom.

“I have great respect for Pope Francis and his efforts to re-focus the office of Pope toward more collaborative, consultative governance of the Church. I also appreciate his efforts to show by his personal example a more human, personable way of serving as pope.”

After 10 years, and at the age of 87, Pope Francis has slowed down a bit since he assumed the papacy, but he continues to challenge the status quo with actions and words that he believes to be the heart of the Gospel. “His spirit is as vibrant as it was in 2013,” Fr. Kesicki says. “His body might be showing more frailty, but his mind, heart, and faith are still intact. And to those who wonder about his retirement, he has said that, as long as he can do what is needed, he will continue to do so with all his energy.”

As the first Jesuit pontiff, Pope Francis has often demonstrated the values, beliefs, and traditions lived out by members of the Society of Jesus. Having been a Jesuit since 1958—and having gone through the lengthy process of formation as such—it’s not surprising that early in his papacy he told reporters, “I think like a Jesuit.”

Ignatian spirituality, the Jesuit way of proceeding, involves having a missionary spirit and being ready to go to the periphery—not only geographically, but also through ministering to the poor and disenfranchised at the margins of society, and to those disaffected by the Church. It emphasizes constant discernment to identify how God is working in a person’s life and finding God in all things.

“I believe the pope’s Jesuit background has contributed greatly to how he speaks and acts,” says Devaney, the Marquette alum and supporter of the Society’s works. “It is clear he believes in accompaniment—not just serving others, but walking with them—that is characteristic of the Jesuits, and in cura personalis, the Ignatian term for care of the whole person. He also shows that collaborative spirit I associate with the Jesuits. One of the first things he did was name a group of consultors to offer different perspectives so he wasn’t acting in a vacuum. He welcomes ideas and wants to listen to others.”

Father McClain agrees that the unprecedented step of appointing a council of cardinals to advise on Church policy is characteristic of the Jesuits’ model of governance. “It makes me think of the first bishop in the United States—Fr. John Carroll, at the time a ‘former’ Jesuit, because it was during the suppression of the Society— who was noted for calling the Council of Baltimore,” he says. “I think Pope Francis’ interest in the movements of the Holy Spirit is one of the great marvels of the man. He will disagree with you, but he doesn’t get defensive or just dismiss what is contrary to his thinking.”

In part, this desire to get others’ input on decisions may be a function of Pope Francis’ acknowledgement that he is not perfect. When a reporter asked, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” his answer was “I am a sinner.”

The statement also “identifies him as a son of St. Ignatius,” wrote Fr. William Bergen, SJ, senior priest at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in New York in March 2023. “At the beginning of our formation in the Society of Jesus, every novice enters into a 30-day prayer experience based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. In those initial days, the young Jesuit is asked to pray for a deep awareness of his sins, and for the gift of a growing and intense sorrow for them.”

Pope Francis brought up the Spiritual Exercises directly in an October 2023 homily that concluded the Synod on Synodality— an initiative of 363 voting members to collaboratively chart the Church’s path in the modern era—by citing the Exercises’ “First Principle and Foundation.” He began by recalling how, in Matthew 22, Jesus answered a doctor of the law regarding what is most important: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…And love your neighbor as yourself.”

“It is important to look at the principle and foundation from which everything begins ever anew, by loving,” Pope Francis said. “Loving God with our whole life and loving our neighbor as ourselves—not our strategies, our human calculations, the ways of the world— but love of God and neighbor. That is the heart of everything. And how do we channel this momentum of love? I would propose two verbs, two movements of the heart…to adore and to serve.”