New Pope: A perfect answer to the prayers of many

By Rev. Fr Fred Jenga

THE days preceding the election of the new pope were days of intense prayer everywhere in the Catholic Church. We all prayed that the Lord gives us a good pastor for the universal church; a man deeply compassionate and filled with great faith, alongside the scholarly achievements that go with such responsibilities.

When the announcement came that we had a new Shepherd with a rather unusual name-Bergoglio- I said a quick prayer for him. But what kind of pope were many praying for? I had a portrait of the kind of pope I was longing for.

I was praying for someone who probably comes from a large family, with many brothers and sisters. I hoped he would have a lot of inquisitive nephews and nieces who have challenged him sometimes at family gatherings.

Maybe some of them have married outside the church or left the church and joined some other religions as has happened to some of us, yet he had to attend their weddings as a family member.

I was praying for a man who has many old friends that he has kept; childhood friends, high school and college friends that still call him by his first name. Maybe some of them can still remind him of the unwise things he did and the reckless statements he made when he was still a youth.

That is what old friends do; they help bring us down to earth. I prayed we get a man with a sense of humour, one who once in a while can crack a joke and laugh at himself.

I prayed that we get someone who has not lived all his priestly life in diocesan or Vatican offices where people gave him respect and obedience all the time. But I hoped we would get somebody who has at least some experience as a parish priest; someone who has regularly heard confessions, done marriage preparation and counselling, and has been on youth retreats and spent hours listening to young people.

It would be good, if he has had the experience of being alone in a parish where he had to lead all the services week after week, and struggled to inspire the same people with his preaching.

I prayed the new pope would be someone who has worked with people struggling in their marriages, and perhaps had to deal with a close relative with a broken marriage.

I prayed we get someone who has dialogued with Evangelicals, Muslims and atheists as equals. It would be nice, if he has some friends who are Protestant or Muslim clerics, and has come to respect them as intelligent and sincere in their faith.

I prayed we get a man who knows what it is like to be poor. It would be nice if he has dealt with alcoholics, drug addicts and the sick for some part of his life. It would be good if he has had to struggle like the rest of humanity in trying to make ends meet. It would be nice if he has held a job before and had to pay his own bills.

The new pope is a perfect answer to the prayers of many. He has a simple family background, has lived with and worked for the poor, nursed the sick, pleaded for single mothers, struggled to pay his own bills, and has close friends from other faiths.

Did The New Vision say he was a bouncer at a Buenos Aires night club at some point in his life? I hope the paper did not make a mistake!

Writer is the director, Holy Cross Family Ministries