What You Don't Know About Pope Francis

As the head of the set-in-its-ways, traditional Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis is something of an outlier. He has refused the signifiers of his position, which during Emeritus Pope Benedict's time included ermine trim on bright red hats and capes (via The Guardian). The ring he wears is not made of heavy gold, but silver; and he wears the same cross that he wore as archbishop of the Argentinian city of Buenos Aires (via The Wall Street Journal). 

Even as the Vatican made waves among Catholic liberals for saying it could not bless same-sex unions, the pope decided to go against recommendations by traveling during a pandemic to the war-torn country of Iraq for a three-day visit, becoming the first pope to visit in at least 20 years. John Paul II had wanted to visit in 2000, but canceled the trip after security in the region deteriorated (via The New York Times). 

Numerous articles have been written about Pope Francis, but there may still be a few facts we don't know about the man who is determined to keep the vow that he made on the day he ascended the throne: not to forget the poor (via The Catholic Telegraph).

When Jorge Bergoglio became the head of the Catholic Church, he picked an out-of-the-box name for the very traditional role. He chose to be called Francis, after Francis of Assisi, the Catholic saint who he called "the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation, [and the same created world] with which we don't have such a good relationship" (via The Catholic Telegraph).

The Pope would have also had another good reason to call himself "Francis." As the Argentine newspaper La Nación points out, the pope's father, Jose Mario Francisco Bergoglio, also carried the name of the popular saint. The paper points out that even though he doesn't speak of his family often, Pope Francis is quite close to them. He was born the oldest of five, but the pope and his sister, Maria Elena, are the only surviving members. He also has nephews, one of whom runs a non-profit organization in Argentina. Another, like the pope, is a member of the Jesuit order.

Pope Francis might have a serious job, but he doesn't appear to take himself too seriously. During one 2018 interview, the pope said, "If one doesn't have a sense of humour, it's very difficult to be happy; it's necessary not to take oneself too seriously ... A sense of humour is fundamental to be able to breathe, because it's linked to the capacity to enjoy life, to be enthusiastic" (via Independent Catholic News). 

When he was first elected, his first words as pope to the cardinals that chose him were: "May God forgive you for what you have done." That same day, his nephew Jose Ignacio had been at the receiving end of a practical joke or two, too. He recalls that on the night his uncle was named Pope, the phone rang at 10 in the evening "When I picked up the phone, I heard a strange voice saying 'hello.' The voice sounded familiar, but I had no idea who it was. So when I asked who I was speaking [to], he said 'it's Jorge, stupid!" (via YouTube).

He's also made a few cracks about the family. The pope took the opportunity to remind young couples on Valentine's Day that: 'We all know the perfect family does not exist. The perfect husband does not exist and the perfect wife does not exist." After a brief pause, the pope added: "Let's not even talk about perfect mothers-in-law" (via Alive Publishing).