How Being a Jesuit Shaped Francis’ Papacy

Pope Francis’ Jesuit formation influenced his 12-year papacy profoundly, as Jesuit Father Russell Pollitt of Holy Trinity church in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, explained in a memorial lecture. Terence Creamer reports.

 In time, Pope Francis may be best remembered as a merciful pastor to all of humanity, not only to Catholics, as well as a good shepherd in tending to humanity’s relationship to the Earth. But many Jesuits will also continue to see the fingerprints of Francis’ Jesuit formation, both in the way he ministered and in how he governed.

In fact, Jesuit Father Russell Pollitt believes that this formation and its emphasis on discernment was a central, yet largely misunderstood, theme of Francis’ papacy and the emphasis he placed on building a synodal Church.

Speaking during the April 23 memorial lecture, on the theme of “Remembering a Jesuit Pope”, Fr Pollitt argued that Pope Francis’ deep knowledge and experience of Ignatian spirituality was evident in the way he approached the mandate he received at his 2013 election to reform the Church, as well as the big issues facing both the Church and society.

While Pope Francis accepted and also shared that “discernment is messy” and “discernment causes chaos”, this was sometimes confusing for those who sought certainty and unambiguous direction. “I’m not always sure that the whole Church understood what discernment was for Francis, which arose from his Jesuit mindset,” Fr Pollitt reflected.

Francis’ papacy was shaped by his exposure to the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, coupled with a formation process that involves the immersion of Jesuit novices into places such as slums, hospices, shelters and even prisons where the poor, marginalised and vulnerable are encountered and accompanied. “The theme of the poor might come from his own experience of being part of a poor migrant family, but it is also very much part and parcel of the way that he was formed as a Jesuit,” Fr Pollitt noted.

Likewise, Pope Francis’ approach to governance had echoes in the model used by the order. “His style of governance may have been one that surprised many people. Yet, again, one has to look at his Jesuit background to understand the way that he tried to govern the church, even when it came to the question of synodality.”

A Jesuit provincial, a position then Fr-Bergoglio had held in Argentina, has consultors, and he makes decisions by consulting his consultors, Fr Pollitt explained. Besides making efforts to share governance, his training would also have placed great emphasis on listening to those on the peripheries.

That approach was possibly amplified by Francis’ own perceived peripheral position as a Church leader from Buenos Aires; a country “at the ends of the earth” geographically and geopolitically, given its location in the “Global South”.

Pope Francis’ well-documented difficulties while Jesuit provincial would also have been formative, particularly for an individual so willing to openly declare his own sinfulness and to seek reconciliation. This self-criticism and fraternal criticism was evident, too, in Fr Pollitt’s assessment of Pope Francis’ shortcomings, including an impatience that did not always bring others along, inconsistencies in dealing with the sex-abuse crisis, and a perceived failure to follow through with reforms to make the Church more inclusive, especially for women.

Yet Pope Francis’ pastoral approach brought a “humanity” to the papacy that was appreciated by many, including those from other Christian denominations and other religious traditions. His willingness to be a moral voice against marginalisation and cruelty, particularly regarding the protection of migrants, as well as his opposition to war, especially in Gaza, filled a void that was otherwise being occupied by those seeking to make political mileage from a message of exclusion.

For Fr Pollitt, much of what shaped and moved Pope Francis came from his Jesuit roots, which he views as “part of the puzzle” that is largely left out, despite the emphasis often given to his being the first-ever Jesuit pope.

“His formation as a Jesuit played a big role in the way that he chose to be the Bishop of Rome,” Fr Pollitt concluded.

Watch the full discussion between Jesuit Institute South Africa director Fr Grant Tungay SJ and Fr Russell Pollitt SJ