Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has refused all luxuries that came with his position as a cardinal. In Argentina, he lives in a simple apartment rather than the archbishop’s palace.He also cooks his own meals and gave up his chauffeured limousine in favour of taking the bus to work.Those who know Jorge Mario Bergoglio say that is shy and humble.Yet he is an intelligent intellectual, a man of principle and integrity. He lives what he preaches. He has a strength of will that supports his convictions. How many 76 year-old men would still hold out against a chauffeured smooth, quiet drive to work? Heck, do you know any 76 year-old who would continue to give up a cook, maid, etc to do all the cooking and housework themselves?
I just cannot hold back. I love Pope Francis I. Every time I think of him I start to smile, not a weak smile but one that grows wider and wider till joy reaches my heart and makes my eyes sparkle.
Why?
This man is God’s man for many reasons. Most importantly, he will touch ordinary people because he is a grassroots leader, who, although shy, is warm and approachable. He visits the slums regularly and does not simply breeze through. No, he is involved with their lives. His voice, body language, gestures all shout loudly that his humility and compassion are true, not put on or learned habits. Everything Bergoglio does or says reflects his core self
. Just look at his face. It speaks louder than any sermon he might give.
He might be considered shy in front of the press or huge formal gatherings but he is not afraid to stand up for injustice or corruption in the church. Last year he gave a strong exhortation to fellow church officials pointing out their hypocrisy for forgetting that Jesus Christ bathed lepers and ate with prostitutes. Again it was just last year that Bergoglio compared Catholic priests who refused to baptize the children of unwed mothers to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
“These are today’s hypocrites. Those who clericalize the Church,” he said, adding, Jesus teaches us another way. Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a man of conviction and courage who “walks the talk”. First Pope from the New World, first Jesuit, first man to take the name of Francis, a saint who gave all way to live poorly among the poor. This man will touch the hearts of the jaded and cynical with his action, words and deeds.
mother of nine9 
Do you know much about the history of Argentina?
Under the dictatorship there, from 1976 – 1983 [while Bergoglio was head of the Jesuits there] “… an estimated 30,000 workers, students, intellectuals and others were ‘disappeared’ and murdered, and the tens of thousands more were imprisoned and tortured.”
Not only did the Church support this government and its actions, but the new Pope is directly implicated in them. For example: “…some of Bergoglio’s harshest critics come from within the Catholic Church itself, including priests and lay workers who say he handed them over to the torturers as part of a collaborative effort to ‘cleanse’ the Church of ‘leftists.’
“One of them, a Jesuit priest, Orlando Yorio, was abducted along with another priest after ignoring a warning from Bergoglio, then head of the Jesuit order in Argentina, to stop their work in a Buenos Aires slum district. During the first trial of leaders of the military junta in 1985, Yorio declared, ‘I am sure that he himself gave over the list with our names to the Navy.’ The two were taken to the notorious Navy School of Mechanics (ESMA) torture center and held for over five months before being drugged and dumped in a town outside the city.”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/16/pers-m16.html
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I read the exact opposite- that he hid and fed those fleeing. If you are right, I suggest that he has been atoning for his past for decades now just like St.Paul who was on a mission to kill Christians and was targeted by God
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Reading Clandestine’s comment above on a history I had heard about but had never put this mans name to. I would just like to say the following”
One of the biggest problems in this world is that the good people who stand up to the big bad guys, are often painted by them as the evil people, and the evil guys, and their minions often spend a lot of time trying to portray themselves as the saints. It is difficult to find something to believe for me as there is just too many lies being spread around all of the time.
I will hope for the best from the Pope, if he is able to travel around in public in his home country, then he must not be hated very much there by anyone and that is a pretty good vote in his favor.
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good insight, I know from personal experience how the media can twist a story completely around
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Perhaps he is the person who will bring real change to the Catholic Church.
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I grin every time I think about him, I think he is just the man for the job. Look how he stood up for his principles as a cardinal, refusing the lifestyle that was expected
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Amen, Melanie … amen!
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🙂
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Totally agree with you. He is so inspirational on many levels.
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I can’t wait to see what happens
On Sat, Mar 16, 2013 at 4:54 PM, motherofnine9
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Faith really is the most important Gift of the Holy Spirit. It is possible to justify any crime committed by the Church hierarchy by saying they are now “humbly and graciously” atoning for their sins.
@ PBScott: I am confused by your comment. How were the “big bad guys” and the “evil guys” in Argentina? The brutal military dictatorship [which was supported by the wealthy, the US government, and the Church leaders] or the workers / poor people / liberation theologians who were slaughtered?
Of course, some of those people who were killed didn’t believe in God, so their lives really don’t matter…
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IF the new pope did commit crimes, it is obvious that that his rejection of a luxurious lifestyle for DECADES that he is a changed man. Some of the most profound men and women who dedicated their lives to doing good, first did a 180 degree turn about from a former where they brought death and destruction. Is a man condemned for all eternity once he has fallen?
God says that he who hates his “brother” has killed
. John 8: 7-11
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
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I am not catholic, am not anything really, but it does not mean that I have no interest in what is going on in the world. It affects as all eventually. I believe very much in tolerance, but I just love this new pope. His first words of greeting when elected being “Buona Sera”, instead of what we all expected. A realist, someone with his feet on the ground, or pehaps he just has a good PR man. Now he has been pope for a week. Ok, speaking as a non catholic my views might be a bit radical, but I love his appearance. trousers and black shoes under the pope dress, at last a realist. He does not seem to need the red slippers, it is not the shoes that make a man what he is, but his thoughts and ideas. I also read about his “controversial” background. The papers are experts in digging up a few negative items. Why I do not know. I remember when Ratzinger was elected, the first thing I read was that he was in the Hitler youth. So were 99% of the rest of the German youth at the time – you either joined or were ignored and cast out, not everyone is born to be a hero. Thanks for writing these words about the new pope. A realist report. What pope has ever said Goodbye and have a nice lunch. You just have to like him.
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Yes, I love this fellow more every day. He asked the Argentinean delegation to donate the money slated to come to Rome and instead of travelling to give it to the poor. If he acts like he did as a cardinal, great things are coming
I should be in bed but I am glad i read your warm comment
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