Archbishop Mark Coleridge of the Archdiocese of Brisbane reflected on his memories of Pope Francis while the Noosa District Catholic Church has invited people to drop by Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Church at 5 Moorindil St, Tewantin during office hours this week to spend a moment in prayer for their beloved Pope Francis and light a candle in his remembrance.
In remembering Pope Francis The Most Reverend Mark Coleridge said: The surprises kept coming till the end. We held our breath when he was in hospital, but then he rallied and returned to the Vatican. He appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s on Easter Sunday and then died early on Easter Monday when none of us was expecting it. Perhaps he saw it coming.
In his final days Jorge Bergoglio must have looked back amazed at how his life had turned out: the boy from Buenos Aires becoming the Bishop of Rome who broke the mould of the papal ministry, though only to recast it in new and liberating ways.
When the cardinals entered the conclave to elect a new pope in 2012, I was asked to help with media commentary. To prepare, I looked through the list of cardinal electors, eliminating those I thought couldn’t be elected. One of those I crossed out was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires. At 76 he was too old, I thought, and they wouldn’t elect a Jesuit. The election was quick, and I thought it had to be the Archbishop of Milan who had been much mentioned. So I prepared to comment on him as pope. Then the announcement came that it was Cardinal Bergoglio who would be known as Pope Francis. Both he and the name were surprises.
The surprises continued when he appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s. First, he was wearing just the simple white soutane, not the more elaborate dress a new pope normally wears. Secondly, he stood in silence for some moments as if struck dumb, with me thinking, “For goodness sake, say something”. Thirdly, when he did speak he said only Buona sera, Good evening: from a new pope you expected something more stirring and resonant. Fourthly, before he gave the blessing he asked the people to pray for him as he bowed low, the crowd in the Square falling silent in a way I’ll never forget.
This papacy, it seemed, wouldn’t be business as usual; and from then on it wasn’t. He decided not to live in the Apostolic Palace and chose to be driven around in a small sedan. Audiences with him had a very different feel than they did with his predecessors, much less formal and more relaxed. As one who had worked for a time in the papal court, I was amazed at how he could break free of its age-old protocols. He was very much his own man.
When Pope Francis was elected, the Brazilian cardinal next to him in the Sistine Chapel said to him, “Don’t forget the poor”; and he didn’t – offering them lunch and even tickets to the circus, visiting prisons to wash feet, taking the part of migrants and refugees. For him, those on the margin were at the centre and any society, he insisted, would be judged on how it treats the poorest and most vulnerable. That sounds like Jesus; and it gave Francis a voice that was heard around the world.
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