Pope Francis was the first Pope from the Americas, being born in Argentina. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born to Italian immigrants, graduated from a technical school, and left as a chemical technician. However soon after he graduated, he then began his training at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. In 1958, he entered the novitiate of the Society of Serving God. Between 1964 and 1986, he studied theology and taught literature and physiology at two schools. Bergoglio was then ordained as a priest in 1969 and then became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. Later on, in 2001, he was named cardinal-priest of Saint Robert Bellarmine by Pope John Paul 2, and then in 2005, he was elevated to president of the Bishops' Conference of Argentina until 2011, where he was then the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013.
In the first of four years of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the Pope, he focused on 4 issues. Firstly, he formed a new way of evangelizing (spreading the good news) – evangelization should be about the mercy and compassion of our Father God instead of a list of rules and demands. The Pope continuously speaks about how we must show love and compassion to our neighbors as God shows us love and compassion, this preaching is directed to the poor and marginalized, and Pope Francis follows his teachings by reaching out to the homeless, the vulnerable, and refugees. Many popes before Bergoglio have written of the new evangelization, but none has written like Bergoglio. He writes it with compassion that instantly grabs everyone’s attention. The new message is based on the message of the Gospel. The Pope made the new evangelization to be about love for the people, and through God’s love, we all have a responsibility to love one another in the same way. Pope Francis made it about orthopraxis (how we live the faith) instead of orthodoxy (how we explain the faith). Pope Francis says: “What does evangelize mean? To give witness with joy and simplicity to what we are and what we believe in”. Pope Francis also says: “We have observed that, in society and the world in which we live, selfishness has increased more than love for others, and that men of goodwill must work, each with his strengths and expertise, to ensure that love for others increases until it is equal and possibly exceeds love for oneself”. This quote relates to Matthew 5:1-12, which is the beatitudes. Pope Francis shows the expectations of the Beatitudes through his love and compassion for society and everyone in it, and also how our love for each other can strengthen all of us. His call to the action of evangelizing relates to the love and leadership shown in the Beatitudes.
Secondly, Pope Francis allowed discussion and debate within the Church, he would have done this so he could hear and consider others’ thoughts, worries, and ideas so that they can form a strong Church. Before Pope Francis was the Pope many bishops and theologians were investigated and/or silenced if they even suggested or disagreed with anything the Pope said. Pope Francis said: “Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent”. This action relates to the scripture 1 John 4:16-18: “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them? This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment. In this world, we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love”. Pope Francis wants our world to grow and become better, because as we love, we are in God, and Pope Francis reminds his people of that every week at his Mass. However, it is not just all words and no action, Pope Francis shows the love that was given to him by God towards his teachings and his people.
Thirdly, the Pope is moving the Roman Catholic Church away from thinking and acting off ethics based on rules on the ability to judge well and more into a new way of thinking about moral issues. Pope Francis is moving the Church to focus on adapting to the new challenges and circumstances of the new world. The Pope is preaching more about instead of splitting the world into Good and bad, we must view everyone as injured sinners, and they all go to the church, which is where we find aid as a hospital, and receive the Eucharist, which is rather, than a reward for the perfect is instead food/aid for the injured.
Pope Francis believes that God gave us this love, so we must use it to spread love and give others love, and the scripture that supports this and his action upon the ethics of the Roman Catholic Church is Luke 19:1-10, which is Zacchaeus the tax collector. In this Bible verse, Jesus shows love and forgiveness for Zacchaeus and in return, Zacchaeus spread and gave love to all that he met. Pope Francis forgives those who believe in love and forgiveness from God, and through this act, Pope Francis is allowing all those who are forgiven to continue to spread and give love.
Finally, Pope Francis is raising awareness of environmental issues, mainly of climate change – he preaches that the safety of the environment is a central belief in the Catholic faith. He knows that climate change is the most important moral issue, and many environmentalists are on board with his belief. He tells us: “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience”. In John 13:34-35, the Bible says: “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another”.
Throughout Pope Francis’s entire life, he has shown and demonstrated what the commandment of love truly means and how we must follow it. The commandment of love says we must love one another as Jesus and God loves us, and as we do this, we will become the disciples of Jesus. Pope Francis has proved to be Jesus’s disciple of love and continues to love and care for everyone. In the Bible, Jesus loved all of his brothers and sisters, no matter who they are, which included the outcasts, the isolated, the sick, the hated, the poor, and the vulnerable, and even though not everyone agreed with his actions, he still never stopped perusing the commandment of love. Pope Francis also demonstrates Jesus’s belief as he attends to and loves the outcasts and the vulnerable, which proves how Pope Francis has continued Jesus’s legacy. The Catholic social teachings Pope Francis demonstrates are solidarity, preferential options for the poor, and the common good. Pope Francis demonstrates these teachings through his love and cares for the poor, his compassionate, faithful, and kind heart towards those who are lost, and his love and care for the community and social mission.
Pope Francis continues to spread and give love with his values and beliefs and continues to make changes to benefit our world. Every day Pope Francis inspires thousands of people. Pope Francis gives light to those who are shadowed in darkness and he will be the one to change the world through love. Now Pope Francis is continuing to focus on very current and important circumstances that should have the Roman Catholics to say, Pope Francis wants to make the Roman Catholic Church a modern part of how we love one another.