Francis, from the 'villas miserias' to the Chair of Peter. The incredible life of the Jesuit who upset the Church's agenda

Thereafter he will come to Rome a few times, and even for the 2013 conclave he is ready to return home. He has already resigned from office due to his 75th birthday (he is over 76), but how things go is well known. He speaks in the last part of the general congregations - the preparatory meetings for the conclave - he avoids dealing with the issues of structure, finances, hierarchies, he goes straight to the subject of the 'existential peripheries' that will be the ideal place of his action, and it was that of his youth as a boy and as a priest (and also as a bishop). He was voted in without any brakes - over a centre out of 115 voters, quorum at 77 - overwhelming all the virtual and media candidates of the previous weeks, a surprise then (but not for everyone, not for Il Sole 24 Ore), starting with the name, Francis, also a first in history. From there, from that 'Brothers and Sisters, Good Evening!' greeting, from prayer, from the end of the world, begins the journey of a pope for whom Rome, the Curia, Western Christendom, was perhaps not ready. But the effect is immediate, especially since the Church had come from difficult years, those of the final stretch of Benedict's pontificate, marked by internal struggles and scandals. His pontificate is a path of unexpected decisions and long processes, but all under the common 'Jesuitical' method of Ignatian discernment, which leads the leader to listen to everyone, but decide for himself. He immediately chose to live in Santa Marta, actually not so much out of modesty, but because he really would have felt lonely and isolated in the Apostolic Palace. Perhaps the loneliness of the exile in Cordoba had left a deep mark.

As soon as he is elected, Bergoglio appoints a council of cardinals who are to assist him in the process of reforming the Curia, but in general on matters of government. Less than ten cardinals are represented, expressing various geographical areas, but also different souls. Initially it might have seemed like a sort of clearing house of the various instances created by the pope to give strength to all, but in reality it will only have the weight that he attaches to it from the beginning, a sort of council of the crown to which he listens, practically without speaking. After years of meetings, he produces a new constitution, the Praedicate Evangelium, which amalgamates various dicasteries and the idea is to make the government more homogeneous compared to a form that had led to various potentates, an objective that in reality does not seem to have been entirely achieved. The most incisive part, however, is the one concerning the economic ministries - an endless reform yard, with rules issued in a continuous stream, so much so that there is still talk of at least five years of adjustments - and the rules on procurement. After the scandal of the London palace - where the Curia lost over 200 million euro - it centralises all finances in the Apsa and leaves ample room for manoeuvre to the Ior, even though there is still a continuous competition between the two entities over spheres of influence. Along with this process comes a (slow but constant) renewal of the structure of bishops and cardinals, promotes figures from mission areas to the Curia, initially ousts most of the Italians, which then recovers because in the end they are the only ones who know how to understand the mechanisms of Church management. One issue has been worrying for a few years now: the Holy See's budget. The pandemic has put a strain on the public coffers (both in terms of offerings and income from the Vatican Museums) and the Secretariat for the Economy, the department created in 2014 that oversees the budget, is calling for continuous cuts. The other symbolic reform is the dicastery for Communication, which has merged all the media, giving a unified management. At the helm, the Pope appointed the first lay prefect, Paolo Ruffini. Women have a decidedly growing role, even if there will be no (for now) priestesses: the pope appoints nuns to head important dicasteries and laywomen in key posts, such as the Vatican Museums but also in the board of the Ior. Women will be a controversial issue in the relationship with certain parts of the Church, especially in Germany and the USA, but nothing new is even in the pipeline. Also on the appointments front, Francis has of course (due to deaths and age advancement) gradually renewed the College of Cardinals, and to date there are as many as 99 cardinals ordained by him who are currently 'electors' in the event of a Conclave, under the age of 80. All Bergoglians? Certainly not, but most are in line with his vision.

Benedict XVI had been the first pope to seriously tackle this scourge, while John Paul II had done so marginally, although he had had to remove the Boston Cardinal (a case known as Spotlight, from the Boston Globe column). Francis set up a commission dedicated to this issue, which also includes victims of abuse (one has resigned, as well as a long-time Jesuit member), in 2019 he convenes a world summit of prelates and experts to discuss the measures to be taken, and new measures will also be introduced gradually in individual local churches. In the same year, he launches a first measure, and in 2023 he promulgates the final version of the regulations to prevent and combat sexual abuse within the church, after four years of experimentation. In the new, updated version, the norms concerning the responsibility of bishops and religious superiors were also extended to lay moderators of international associations of the faithful recognised by the Holy See. The rules introduced in 2019 stipulate that bishops, religious superiors and now also those who preside over lay associations are obliged to report abuses of which they become aware. In recent years, impressive abuse figures have emerged, both in France and Germany (even lapping up Benedict in the last months of his life for an alleged failure to punish a priest). Around the issue of paedophilia, a sort of clumsy coup attempt was made in 2018 by a former nuncio, Archbishop Viganò, an ultra-conservative linked to circles of the American Trumpian desta, who demanded the Pope's resignation for his alleged cover-up towards Cardinal McCarrick. All of course ended in nothing, with no official answer from Bergoglio, because there was nothing founded.

A central theme, in the first phase of the pontificate, was that of the family, on which the Pope convened a Synod held over two years. The theme that immediately became central in the media narrative was that of the readmission or not to the sacraments of remarried divorcees excluded from communion, a battle espoused even by those who do not even go to Church by mistake or to admire a fresco. But so be it. After an open clash and the search for solutions, the Pope started a path of readmission for remarried divorcees, for whom "there are prohibitions that can be overcome". Therefore, on a case-by-case basis, they will be able to receive communion and be godparents and catechists in Church. Not a general rule, however, but a discernment entrusted to confessors as requested by the was the decision taken by Pope Francis in his long-awaited post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, which concludes a journey of reflection lasting more than two years that saw the consultation of the faithful and bishops from around the world. The decision was preceded by a protest by 13 conservative cardinals, who at the start of the Synod had circulated a letter (later partially denied) denouncing a sort of manipulation of the assembly towards hypothetical pre-packaged solutions on the part of the Pope, a very serious fact in itself because the group included several cardinals also with Curia appointments, "ministers" in essence. And then came the open protest of four cardinals with their "dubia", with the request for a sort of correction towards the total inadmissibility to the sacraments of divorcees. But no reaction from Francis. Other "dubia" will arrive in 2023 on the eve of the Synod on Synodality (first stage of two phases) again from cardinals of the opposing wing, but he will respond to these. Then at the end of 2023 comes another document that will cause debate: Fiducia Supplicans. It is a statement by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the possibility of blessing homosexual couples and other types of non-regular couples according to Catholic doctrine. This possibility is declared licit, but reiterating that the blessing is not to be understood as an approval of these irregular situations, the Church's teaching on sexuality and marriage remaining unchanged. It was the first statement by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith since Dominus Iesus in 2000. It is one of the first pontifical documents that has been declared inapplicable by one or more bishops' conferences (especially in Africa, but also from the USA many objections).

The first was to Lampedusa, back in July 2013, in the days of several deaths at sea, although the most infamous massacre was on 2 October of that year, when 365 people died. The subject of migrants has often been the focus of his travels, to Lesbos in Greece - the natural landing place of the eastern route from Syria and Afghanistan - but also to the border between Mexico and the USA, to Ciudad Juarez. At the beginning of his pontificate he said he would move little, but then things quickly changed, and he has been constantly travelling. In fact he has been to the USA, to many countries in Latin America - including Cuba - to Canada, and then to Africa several times - including South Sudan - to Asia, from Sri Lanka to Thailand, from Japan to Myanmar, to South Korea and then to the Philippines, where he celebrated, in Manila, the mass with the largest mass of faithful ever calculated (though certainly at a rough estimate): 7 million. But also in the Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and in Abu Dhabi, where he and the leaders of Sunni Islam signed the Declaration of Brotherhood. In short, he made a total of 40 apostolic journeys to 58 different countries, plus 36 pastoral visits to 41 different cities or hamlets in Italy. But he has been very little in continental Europe: hence no France (the visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg does not count), no Germany, no Spain and no United Kingdom. Only a detour to Belgium - complete with protests - and Luxembourg, perhaps the place furthest from the much-trodden suburbs. The reason? He wants to go to the global south, to the 'global south' where he comes from. But to Argentina, his country, whose passport he has kept and renewed? Nothing. Why? He has said it again and again: his visit would be exploited by the power of the moment, it would be too disruptive an element, especially in a country perennially in economic crisis and with fragile politics (with which, by the way, he has never got along well, but no one had any doubts about that). And the election of the narco-capitalist Milei has certainly not helped a rapprochement, even if he flaunts benevolence towards the president who insulted him in every way during the election campaign.

The first is Evangelii Gaudium, an apostolic exhortation linked to a Synod that became the 'Manifesto' of the pontificate. It contains all his thinking and his programmes, he speaks of the conversion of the papacy, reform of the structures (which he had already begun), criticism of the economic system: 'This economy kills', he writes, it makes the 'law of the strongest prevail, where the powerful eat the weakest'. The current culture of 'waste' has created "something new": "the excluded are not 'exploited' but waste, 'leftovers'. Key-words that recur again and again, along with the rejection of a 'worldly church' dedicated to internal careerism, and then the space for young people and women, right up to the 'poor church for the poor', the heart of his entire message. But there is also the condemnation of abortion, although he always promotes the welcoming of those who have gone through that experience, as well as for separated families. And then the theme of mercy, to which he will dedicate the Extraordinary Jubilee of 2016, with over 20 million pilgrims arriving in Rome. In 2015 comes the encyclical Laudato Si', dedicated to the care of creation and people (the theme of 'waste' returns), then the theme of ecology. Very strong messages, contested by the American right above all. Finally in 2020 Fratelli Tutti, whose core p represented fraternity and social friendship, starting with reflections on the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. One of its founding texts is the Document on Human Brotherhood for World Peace and Common Coexistence, which was signed together with the great Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019. Then in 2023 comes Laudate Deum, the second stage of the Pope's 'ecological' journey, in the broader concept of integral ecology, which brings together human dignity, peace, and Creation. It was his message at Cop28, which he was unable to attend, having it read by his Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin. And health has been an issue in recent years: colon surgery, then for intestinal obstruction, partial immobility due to knee pain, lung discomfort. But he never stopped, he always said so.

His relationship with world politics has always been marked by maximum dialogue, the 'pastoral' path that goes beyond traditional diplomacy. And so he has prayed against the strike in Syria in 2013, he has reknotted the threads of dialogue between the USA (Obama was there) and Cuba, he has opened a channel with China, he has spoken to the whole of Islam. Relations have sometimes been more tiring in Europe, especially with France, with Italy he has broken the historic political-electoral cordon, and this has been seen with the laws passed, especially for civil unions and the end of life, which would never have happened with the DC (or only with Cardinal Ruini). The USA is a chapter apart. The American bishops are largely proud conservatives and in 2024 they supported the election of Donald Trump, cementing consensus around the issue of abortion. But then many of them were bewildered by the executive order on the 'deportations' of migrants, against which prelates who had given the tycoon their wholehearted vote spoke out. And indeed, the letter that Francis wrote against Trump's migration policy was greeted with some favour (but not enthusiasm), opening a new chapter.