WHY FRANCIS?

When I awoke on the 14^th morning my wife told me that a new pope had been elected.  My initial reaction was of dismay, because she didn’t say who it was.  I was apprehensive of a hasty decision, as happened in the previous conclave; and said so in my last article “Past, Present, Future – All Tense”.  I hurriedly switched on BBC News.

Then it hit me.  A relatively “unknown” Argentinean had been elected.  I was happy that it was a Latin American, as I had advocated in 2005 and again this time round.  Then I heard the name he had chosen – Francis.  Tears of joy welled up in my eyes.  I rushed to the altar in our bedroom, and prostrated before the Lord in joyous thanksgiving.  For me “Francis” is special – very, very special.

When I was just 7 years of age my elder sister Christine was preparing me for my confirmation. I had to choose a name of my patron saint, so she told me about several saints.  I chose Francis of Assisi, not for any lofty ideals, but because his love of birds and animals appealed to me.  I remember the day after my confirmation, walking out into the garden and calling out to the birds to not be afraid of me as I was Francis of Assisi!  Not surprisingly, the birds were not impressed.  My second, and far more fruitful encounter with Francis, was 17 years later, when I was seeking to know what the Lord wanted of me.  That is when my good friend Sr Adel UMI, and thereafter Bp Patrick D’souza of Varanasi, directed me to Fr Deenabandhu Ofm Cap in Jyotiniketan Ashram, Bareilly.  The person and place were the game changers in my life.

Fr Augustine Deenabandu was an elderly Capuchin priest, who was in his 60s when he left the “comfort” of his monastery in the south to come up to Jyotiniketan in the north, to learn Hindi, to squat on the ground and even to roll chapattis.  Jyotiniketan was founded by Rev Murray Rogers, an Anglican pastor, an Englishman, and his wife. They subsequently moved to Jerusalem to make Jyotiniketan truly Indian. Life there was truly spartan – no electricity, no running water, and very little protection from the biting chill of winter, the scorching summer sun, leaking roofs in the monsoons; or from dacoits, snakes and mosquitoes.  Fr Deenabandhu was living the truly Franciscan life.  For us “festivity” meant boiled eggs for Easter or Christmas.

It is here that I discovered the real Francis of Assisi, not just by reading about him, but by experiencing true Franciscan spirituality.  I discovered several similarities in Francis’ youth and my own.  He was 25 when he heard God’s call, ”Go and repair my Church”.  I too was concerned about my Catholic community.  On my 25^th birthday, I committed myself as a layman to live the Franciscan way of life and took the name “chhotebhai” which was Hindi for Friar Minor; what Francis called his followers.

St Francis was unique.  While others hankered after ecclesiastical power, he chose to be a “brother”.  He shamed a corpulent church by a life of extreme poverty, humility and simplicity. He did not hesitate in taking on cardinals and even the then Pope Innocent III.  In fact the Pope had a dream of a frail young man holding up a tottering Lateran Basilica, the then seat of the papacy.  That man was later identified as Francis. Many people have a rather romantic notion of Francis, the “Il Poverello”, the lover of nature, and his enduring friendship with the beautiful St Clare.

The other side of Francis was a man who mortified himself so much and identified so closely with Jesus, that he received the Stigmata, the wounds of Jesus in his own flesh.  While popes and kings were launching into crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims, Francis was actually engaging in dialogue with the Saracens (Muslims).  His prayer “Make me a Channel of Peace” was adopted not just by Mother Teresa, but also by Mahatma Gandhi.  Even today it is found in the Gandhian prayer book, and we recite it together on Gandhi Jayanti and his martyrdom day.

Another striking similarity was the emergence of a “middle class” to which he belonged, as distinct from the royals and feudals.  The church was in desperate need of change.  He didn’t do it by violence, as in the French Revolution.  Nor did he resort to Reformation like Martin Luther, from outside.  He did it by Renewal from within.  That required much more courage.  As somebody once said “It is easy to throw stones from outside”.  It made me wonder.  If the problems are the same, so should the solution be.  That is why I believe in the Franciscan way of life and radical renewal.

That is also why I had tears of joy when I heard that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio SJ had taken the name of Francis on his election.  For me it was a sure indicator that the new pope saw St Francis of Assisi as his role model.  When I subsequently learnt that this Argentinean cardinal lived in a small apartment, took public transport to commute, and even cooked his own food, my joy knew no bounds.  St Francis was called the “Alter Christi” (another Christ) the greatest saint after the apostolic era. Are we then looking at another era in the Catholic Church? I sincerely hope so.

When I found that the new pope was also a Jesuit (some say the first one to become a pope) I was even more excited.  As a Franciscan layman I had begun to develop a fixed state of mind.  Then I got exposed to the Jesuits - Pepe Casasnovas (Spanish), Peter Ribes (again Spanish), Dan Rice (American) and Josef Neuner (Austrian). I learnt much from them about ecclesiology and the discernment of spirits.  Their guidance has held me in good stead.  I felt that a combination of Franciscan zeal and Jesuit intellectual prowess was ideal.  That seems to be the strength behind the new pope. “Great indeed are your works oh Lord“.

I also feel a personal sense of vindication.  Immediately after Benedict XVI’s resignation I wrote, ”Quo Vadis Mater Ecclesia?” in which I asked, “Do we need another Francis of Assisi?”  I had also referred to the impact of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.  So did I discern the spirits correctly?  In my Open Letter to the 5 Indian cardinal electors I expressed a first preference for a Latin American.  Again spot on.  In my last article, “Past, Present, Future – All Tense”, I had hoped that the new pope would embody the 6Hs – human, humble, honest, holy, harmonious and hardworking.  By all accounts I seem to have got what I asked for.  Surely this must have been the unspoken aspiration of millions of Catholics around the globe.

Now to the pollsters and punters.  I read two articles in the Tablet, the most respected Catholic weekly in England. One had an analysis of the “experience” of the 115 cardinals, under six heads – Curial experience, Moral Teaching, Social justice, Liturgy, Ecumenism and Religious Dialogue, and Governance. It rated Bergoglio with just 3 – Curial experience, moral teaching and social justice.  This was even less than the 4 stars of Cardinal Ivan Dias, and on par with the 3 stars of Telesphore Toppo. So much for experience.

Another article used Human Resource Management techniques.  It identified 3 areas or qualities required - Charisma, Governance and Global Fluency (acceptance).  Strangely the only area that Bergoglio covered was “Governance”, which was not featured in the previous analysis.  The only 3 who qualified by the HR formula were Schonbohn of Vienna, Scola of Milan and O’Malley of Boston.  So much for HR too! As for the punters, Ladbrokes of Britain had odds of 33/1 on Bergoglio. Seems so odd now!

In my personal preference (not published) I had hoped for Francis Arinze (Nigeria) Peter Turkson (Ghana), Agnelo Scola (Milan) and Sean O’Malley (Boston).  I was subsequently also impressed by Luis Tagle (Manila).  I may have got the brand names wrong, but I think the generic name of the prescription was correct.  Cardinal Bergoglio may have been the dark horse in the race, but I see in Pope Francis a light of hope for the future. Viva il papa!