Jorge Bergolio, more recently known as Pope Francis, has been taking the world by storm over the past year. Catholics and non-Catholics have been amazed with how he has acted during his term as pope. The biggest reason why he has captivated people is that he lives his life by the beatitudes. Pope Francis has made the forefront of his campaign as pope to teach and show people what the beatitudes really mean. Through Pope Francis’ actions, he has shown the world not just how to understand the beatitudes, but how to translate them into actions and everyday life as well.
Jorge Bergolio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 17, 1936. Both of his parents were Italian immigrants who left Italy due to the fascist movement becoming more prevalent. His father was a modest railroad worker and his mother stayed home with the rest of the family. Bergolio is the oldest of five children. His sister, Maria Elena, is his only living relative. In college, Bergolio attended the technical secondary school Escuela Nacional de Educacion Tecnica and majored in technical chemistry. After college, Bergolio got a job in a laboratory for the Hickethier-Bachmann food company. At age 21 Jorge became incredibly sick with pneumonia and as a result he had a small part of his lung removed.(1) Bergolio joined the seminary in 1955 and just a short three years later he left the seminary and became a novice in The Society of Jesus. In his first years as a Jesuit, he was a student of the humanities in Chile and came back to Argentina to graduate with a degree in philosophy from the Colegio de San José. Over the next three years Bergolio would teach psychology and literature at the college level while also earning his theology degree. On December 13, 1969 he...
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...n serving the poor.(16)(17) He leads the people of the church by his actions, and through his own actions he tries to make the rest of the Church follow his lead. Pope Francis is a drum major because he is trying to lead Catholics in a better direction like no pope or other church official has tried to do before him.
In conclusion, Pope Francis is most definitely a concrete representation of the beatitudes. He is poor in spirit, feeds the poor of Argentina and of Rome, acts meekly towards others, is a peacemaker between homosexuals and other minorities and Catholics, and he has a pure heart seen through his compassion for others. Pope Francis may seem like he is an innovator of new social change, but all he is really doing is living a simple life along the guidelines of the Beatitudes. It is so surprising because that type of life is rarely lived by anyone anymore.
Jesus washed the feet of 12 people to show that we should be doing the kind and most respectful things towards each other even if they have been untrustworthy and against your beliefs, you should still be there if they need someone, and this is what Pope Francis is doing. Pope Francis is upholding the ritual of Jesus in hoping the outcome will be that someday, all people of all races and nationalities will stand alongside each other in all types of circumstances for the greater good and we, as humans, become better of for
Furthermore, the renewal and rejuvenation of the Catholic Church makes Pope John a major reformer of the 20th century and a significantly large influencer during his time. He made universal and worldwide impacts to religious adherents by reforming and revitalizing the Christian traditions through achieving ressourcement, aggiornamento. In addition, his passion for unity amongst Christian faiths and interfaith dialogue, world peace and economic justice also furthered his impact not only within the Catholic Church but also in other Christian denominations. Moreover, in the short time of Pope John’s authority and power within the Catholic Church, the contributions and achievements he made had a substantially large impact to the Christian traditions as he brought the Catholic Church into the modern era,
Pope Francis, the 266th pope, spreads his kindness throughout the world through his humility and approachability. He travels the world, supporting the poor and unfortunate. Pope Francis has served as both archbishop and cardinal for more than 12 years. This definitely shows his dedication to follow God's teachings and spread it everywhere he can.
Pope Francis business goal is to bring awareness of serving the poor and marginalized. To bring peace, love, and understanding to all his followers. His new mission of empathy and love has struck the hearts of many world-wide. Pope Francis does not just talk about the poor he sneaks out to serve them without credit or publicity. These secrets have been brought to the world’s attention because of social media (Watson, 2013). As of January 20, 2014, Pope Francis has 3,553, 186 followers on Twitter. Make that 3,553,193 ...
Pope John XXIII was a significant role model for the Christian Religion as he showed equity and love with other people. By humanising his role as a Pope, he believed that he could connect and share the influence of God to them through means of love and kindness. During his papacy, he has travelled and visited many people around the world. On Christmas Day 1958, he visited the Bambino Gesu Hospital for Children affected with polio. This symbolised a great sheer of courage as have been wanted to the Corinthians ...
Even though, some people may have thought that Saint Francis was a little out of the range of normal; nonetheless, he was one of those special characters that learned to become in tuned with meaning of his life and in general the life of all of God’s creations. Saint Francis was able to give up all the commodities came from his wealthy family background to as life live simple as possible. The main goal of Saint Francis was to help guide all of God’s creations to live harmoniously with one another. This is one of the many things that we can take from Saint Francis in order to assist humanity to flourish.
...Gospel with the greatest amount of individual liberty and the minimum of regulation. Cardinal Hugolino, the late Gregory IX, assisted Francis in the completion of the Rule of in 1223. All this effort took its tool on the health of Francis, he started realizing that he was nearing the end of his life. Since he believed he had lived like Christ, he pleaded to die like Christ.
This topic is very important to the type of place we live in now. I chose this topic to see how and why these popes have changed the church to fit the modern society. Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II had different impacts on the church today. Pope John XXIII impacted the church in modern society after he died with the assembly of Vatican II. Pope John Paul II went out into the world to change and embrace it. He had a direct impact on the world by going out into the world. Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII were both very good at what they did and both had different ways of doing it. Both were great leaders and had to follow Lowney’s Four Pillars of Leadership in order to become as good of a leader as they were. The Four Pillars are: Understanding one’s strengths, weaknesses, values and world view, Confidently innovating and adapting to embrace a changing world, Engaging others in a positive, loving attitude, and Energizing oneself and others with heroic ambition. It is these Pillars that separate a good leader from a great one. In the essay I will cover their back round,
She examines 6 popes between 1470-1530 who she claims lead in a way similar to politicians. They lost touch with the common people both emotionally and intellectually. A little known cleric led the revolution challenging papacy that culminated in the reformation of the church. In that context, Barbara outlines that the popes were venal, immoral, and their power politics was calamitous. The faithful were distressed by their leadership, which ignored all the protests and the signs that a revolt was coming. In the end, the papal constituency lost almost half of its followers to Protestants. Barbara says that these people were driven by the greed and the urge to create a family empire that would outlive them. This chapter sums up the essence of folly in these major failures, lack of a fixed policy, over extravagance, and the illusion that their rule was
“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.” Said by St. Pope John Paul II during one of his World Youth Day homilies this quote perfectly represents the man that St. Pope John Paul II was: a bold, forgiving, selfless, and loving man. Born on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland; John Paul II suffered a number of tragedies in the early years of his life. By the age of the twenty he lost all of his immediate family, and he credits the death of his father as the point in his life when he heard the call to live a life of religious vocation. In 1939, about one year after John Paul enrolled in The Krawkow Jaggelonian University, the Nazi closed the school and to avoid deportation to Germany all able men had to work. From 1940 to 1941 his holiness did various jobs, but it was during this time period that he was seriously contemplating priesthood. In 1942 John Paul II started studying at the underground seminary run by the Archbishop of Krakow, and during this time he was hit by a truck and recovered in matter of two weeks. To him this was a confirmation of his vocation. Once the war was finished the future pope was ordained priest and was then sent to Rome for further studies. After a two year time period in Rome, His Holy Father received his doctorate in theology and returned to Poland. After serving in several parishes and becoming a well-known religious face in Poland, St. John Paul II became the bishop of Ombi. During the six year time period that his holiness was the Bishop of Ombi, he achieved one of his life’s major accomplishments: he became one of the leading thinkers on the Vatican II council. While he was one the Vatican II co...
In chapter two, ‘Francis and His Companions,’ Cunningham exposes the considerable growth in Francis of Assisi’s influence, as he recounts his companions that joined him after deciding to live his life. The chapter is significant because it exposes how Francis of Assisi’s gospel is different from the orthodox Catholic practices, which recognized the pope, as the sole Vicar of Christ. (Cunningham 32). This chapter is important in my life because it reinforces my conviction God is the almighty and all-powerful, and all people regardless of the status of the needed to worship
Overall, Pope Francis places extreme concern on four areas, which are the idolatry of money, the option of the poor, inequality, and the common good/peace. Before reading Pope Francis’s book, I had a general familiarity with inequality and the option for the poor, but I was not completely aware of the idolatry of money in today’s society or peace in a Christian perspective. In Chapter 2, he starts talking about how we have found new idols in today’s society and how our relationship with money has taken control over not only our society, but also ourselves (Pope Francis, 55). Also, Pope Francis discusses how we as Christians need to realize that we are not exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice because it is required of everyone (Pope Francis, 201). In addition, he also talks about the vulnerability of certain groups and the progress of building people in peace, justice, and fraternity, which I will discuss in subsequent paragraphs. Prior to reading this book, I was aware of Pope Francis and some of his beliefs to an extent. I am Catholic, so I remember when he was first inaugurated as Pope and I remember hearing my family discuss some of his beliefs, but I was only somewhat aware of his style as a Christian leader. As a Christian leader, Pope Francis places emphasis on four areas of concern, which include: the new idolatry of money, option for the poor, inequality, and common good/peace.
Saint Francis of Assisi was a uniquely spiritual man who gave up a life of wealth and position to lead a life of poverty in accordance and service to God. Embracing a life according to the Gospels, Francis went on to establish a Monastic Order, known as the Franciscans. In the midst of the political climate within the religious community of Italy, Francis emerged a champion for the poor and sick, with humility and no regard for himself. Francis exhibited his love for God through his love and admiration for all of God's creation including nature. The principles of Saint Francis are as relevant today as they were in thirteenth century Italy; service and love to all of God’s creation.
.... Whether it was acting as a preserver of knowledge and history, or an advisor to rulers, its influence has always been present. Even during the Renaissance, when secular thought was more prominent that devotion to faith, the Catholic Church's influence persisted, revealing itself through art, science, and law, among other things. The Church has maintained itself through adaptation, supporting fields that the people were dedicated to. Today the Church still holds some of that influence, though controversy in the institution has tarnished its reputation. Pope Francis, the 266th pope, is the Church's chance to make reparations for those mistakes, and to restore some of their influence over the people. With the positive response to Francis so far it appears that this influence is steadily returning, along with what may be very serious reforms to the institution.
One of the values Francis instilled the most in his monks was obedience to God. In his life, Francis was devoted to serve God and gave God complete control over his life. Part of this trust that Francis had was that God would provide for him in same way ...