“I come at no cost: the person speaking to you is a brother, whom the
Lord decided to make your father…,” John XXIII, born Angelo Roncalli,
said before his death fifty years ago. These words also capture the style of his fifth successor, Francis, who was summoned “from the other side of the world.”
Given that the Pope has only been in office for less than 100 days it is still too early to draw comparisons, but Francis has attracted a huge wave of affection.
Within weeks of his election to the papal throne, portraits of Francis adorned the walls of numerous homes, the numbers of faithful attending the Sunday Angelus prayer have been overwhelming and the Prefecture of the Papal Household has been flooded with faxes from pilgrims wishing to register for his audiences.
Bergoglio’s simple and efficient preaching and his spontaneity echo the “Good Pope’s” style.
The late Pope John XXIII pronounced those words about himself not costing anything, in his famous and unexpected “speech to the moon”, which he gave on the evening of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II was the fruit of the most important decision of the Italian pope’s pontificate.
The man who has made the most efforts to substantiate the link between Roncalli and Bergoglio’s papacies is Loris Capovilla, John XXIII’s former secretary.
He recently defined the serenity, simplicity and the way in which the “Good Pope” looked at people, as “unforgettable”, adding: “Francis is the same. When he goes round St. Peter’s Square, it seems as though he wants to shake everybody’s hand; as if he’d like to show his affection to every single person. He is represents God’s humanity… Francis is a reflection of the goodness and humanity God shows ordinary people.”
When John XXIII was elected Pope, Fr. Primo Mazzolari said: “We have a Pope made of flesh.” “This is no trivial thing, because God became flesh,” Capovilla said. “Pope Francis is an eloquent manifestation of this.”
Within days of the new Pope’s election, a number of people started pointing to links between Roncalli and Bergoglio. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco said Francis reminded him of “John XXIII’s style, simplicity, goodness and ability to lead.” The President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Cardinal Robert Sarah, described Francis as a “good figure”, like Roncalli while Chinese cardinal Joseph Zen said: “when the people meet Francis they will love him, as they did John XXIII.”
His prediction is proving spot on. The comment Bergoglio made when he was still a cardinal: “My people are poor and I am one of them,” explaining his decision to only use one of room in the Buenos Aires archbishopric as his living space and why he cooked for himself, is just like something Roncalli would have said.
John XXIII was proud of his humble background having grown up in the northern Italian town of Sotto il Monte.
Then there was the time John XXIII spent Christmas 1958 at the Regina Coeli prison, speaking off-the-cuff about a relative of his who had been arrested for poaching. His words were censored at the time, by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
More than half a century later, some still grumbled about Francis’ decision to celebrate his first Holy Thursday with young offenders at the Casal del Marmo detention centre in Rome, unhappy with the direct way in which he expressed himself, without paying too much attention to protocol.
Their focus on mercy is another point which links the two popes together. John XXIII spoke often of mercy as a medicine, while Francis has stressed right from day one that “Jesus’ message is mercy. For me, I say this humbly, it is the strongest message of the Lord.”
Both men place an emphasis on the Church’s closeness to the people, instead of it being conceived as the world’s “courtroom”.
Both appear to be deeply rooted in a simple and popular faith. Roncalli’s faith is ingrained in northern Italian Catholicism, while Bergoglio’s is tooted in Latin American Catholicism. Their style is miles away from the detached intellectualism of some.
When John Paul II beatified Roncalli on 3 September 2000, he said: “Everyone remembers the image of Pope John's smiling face and two outstretched arms embracing the whole world. How many people were won over by his simplicity of heart, combined with a broad experience of people and things!
The breath of newness he brought certainly did not concern doctrine, but rather the way to explain it; his style of speaking and acting was new, as was his friendly approach to ordinary people and to the powerful of the world.”
From the comments pilgrims have been making in St. peter’s Square, it seems history is repeating itself.