Understanding Pope Francis – Pope Francis is his own man, and more

Unlike Pope Benedict who was undoubtedly a pope of words and texts, Pope Francis is to my mind more a pope of images. That is not to say that he is uneducated or uninspiring in his writing. But he continues to take hold of so many with his gestures.
I cannot be the only one who feels that some prominent ecclesial figures are echoed in Francis’ pontificate thus far.
First, and most significantly, Francis made clear that he chose the original papal name Francis in honor of Italy’s most beloved saint from Assisi. The last pope to choose a completely unused moniker was Pope Lando in 913 AD. Of course, known for his simplicity and love of the poor, as well as for inventing the idea of the Nativity crèche, St. Francis is a monumental “image” in Catholicism. Yet, there may be an even deeper spiritual significance to the choice.
The earlier Francis famously heard Jesus speak to him in the crucifix in the Church of San Damiano. Christ’s resounding demand: “Francis, rebuild my church.”
Catholics believe the church, as willed by God, will perdure until the end of time, and that the gates of the netherworld shall never prevail against it. And yet, in every age God raises up saints who renew this organic and living Body. The suffering the friar from Assisi endured in the stigmata was a physical witness to the purification of the world through the Holy One, a transformation the church thirsted for in his day. Our Francis has a monumental task of rebuilding the church – in perception, vitality and evangelical efficiency – a vocation which no member of the baptized can skirt.
Another image that came to mind upon first hearing his pontifical name, perhaps because of my own strong devotion to him, was that of Francis Xavier, the 16th century missionary who was instructed by Ignatius to “Go and set the world ablaze” with zeal for Christ. The New Evangelization is today an increasing priority, with entirely unknown and uncharted, but very real, intellectual mission-fields where the harvest is ripe.
Lastly, two popes keep coming to my mind when I reflect on the world’s reaction to Francis. Pope John XXIII, whom Italians still revere as il Papa buono Giovanni (“Good Pope John”), captured the world’s attention, not only in his call for an ecumenical council, but also in his infectious warmth, as when he famously told cheering crowds, “Go home tonight and give your children a hug and tell them it is from the pope.”
The second papal image echoed in Francis’ style and ministry is that of Albino Luciano, the short-lived Pope John Paul I. A man unafraid to cause waves himself, who intermingled tradition with innovation by combining the names of his immediate predecessors into the distinctly Venetian “Giampaolo” (like John XXIII, he was Patriarch of Venice when elected), John Paul I also somehow gripped the media and fascinated the globe right from the start of his papacy. He is often called the smiling pope, because his affability and peaceful demeanor was almost tangible even over the airwaves.
While Pope Francis is his own man, many of these figures are finding resonance in his current ministry, service and personality.

Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., of Collingswood, is a Research Associate at Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies in Northeast England.