Ten years ago — March 13, 2013 — a bespectacled man in white appeared on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. After the historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI Feb. 28, 2013, the world met Pope Francis. He is the first pope from South America, the first to choose the name Francis and the first Jesuit to serve as pontiff.
Father Robert C. Cilinski, pastor of Church of the Nativity in Burke, remembers the way the pope asked for prayers as he first addressed the crowd. Jonathan Amgott, a parishioner of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington, remembers watching in real time as more information was added to the new pope’s Wikipedia page.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge remembers his striking demeanor. “The humility and the simplicity and the joy he reflected when he was introduced to the world was so uplifting,” he said. “Even in the midst of his heavy burdens, Pope Francis reflects joy. He reminds us of the joy that is ours in living the Gospel and encourages us to witness that joy to others as we strive to lead them to Jesus.”
“I vividly remember the day he was elected and came out on the balcony to greet the people for the first time and instead of the usual greeting of each pope, he said, ‘Buona sera,’ Good evening: I knew he was the people’s pope,” said Sister Donatella Merulla of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Reparation. “Those words made me feel that he really was elected to walk the ‘walk’ of the suffering people. He suffers with us. He is one of us, yet a holy man. His aim is to bring all to Christ.”
The new pope’s priorities were clear from the beginning, said Father Cilinski. “He chose the feast of St. Joseph for his inaugural Mass and he asked everyone to be protectors like St. Joseph — protectors of life, that begins in the womb, but in every stage, and protectors of all of creation,” he said. “His very first trip outside of Rome was to Lampedusa — an Italian island where immigrants come, it’s a gateway into Europe. Those who are homeless, those who are last in the world, he made first.”
Amgott, 34, was moved by Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel). “Young people have so much energy and want to make a difference but there’s the question of, what is good, what is worth doing?” he said. “Pope Francis very clearly set out (that) the good is sharing the Gospel with this renewed vigor. In hindsight, I see it as the version of the new evangelization for my generation.”
More recently, Amgott has been involved in locally implementing Pope Francis’ initiative — the Synod on Synodality. “I was involved with our parish’s efforts there and I valued his call to examine as a church what we are doing well and how we can be growing,” he said.
In 2015, cheering crowds greeted Pope Francis when he visited the United States for the first time. Deacon Michael Nugent was present when the pope celebrated the first canonization on American soil, the canonization Mass of St. Junipero Serra outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. “I will never forget taking the day off from work, standing in line for hours with joyful and prayerful Catholics from all over the country, and praying with the Holy Father at this historic and grace-filled event,” he said.
Deacon Nugent was inspired by the pope’s emphasis on the merciful love of God. “The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (2015-16) called by Pope Francis was coming to a close when I began formation for the priesthood, and its timely message of the Lord’s compassion for us fired my desire to be a priest,” he said. Pope Francis also called for a Year of Consecrated Life from Nov. 30, 2014, to Feb. 2, 2016, and a Year of St. Joseph from Dec. 8, 2020, to Dec. 8, 2021.
Pope Francis has said many quotable things, including his encouragement to priests to be shepherds with “the smell of the sheep.” He has called the church a “field hospital” that must go out to heal the wounded of the world. He has stressed the importance of accompaniment and encounter, something Bishop Burbidge experienced personally when he and other U.S. bishops traveled to Rome during their ad limina visit in 2019 — a trip bishops make approximately every five years to report on the state of their diocese.
“Usually the Holy Father addresses all the bishops and then you greet him personally, but Pope Francis said, ‘No, I want to hear from you, let’s have a conversation instead,’ and bishops began to ask him questions,” said Bishop Burbidge. “I felt right at home. He was talking bishop to bishop and heart to heart, really giving us an example of what he means by encounter.”
George and Kim Young, parishioners of Nativity, say the pope’s environmental encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” changed their lives. Though they had long worked to protect God’s creation, the document powerfully connected that work to their faith.
One of Kim’s favorite quotes from the document is, “All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation.” “Studying ‘Laudato Si’ ’ right after it came out, that was really the first time that I looked at myself as an instrument of God,” she said. “Everything about my life, my day job as a naturalist, my hobbies, the way we raised our kids and the way we work with our grandchildren, all of a sudden became an extension of my faith in a new way. (It) tied my faith to the rest of my life.”
Father Cilinksi is moved by Pope Francis’ pastoral approach to ministry. “He’s inspired me to be more compassionate and to show the mercy of God,” he said. “Every pope in my lifetime has been a gift to the church and I would certainly include Pope Francis in that. I rejoice and give thanks for Pope Francis on his 10th anniversary.”
Celebrate Pope Francis
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge will celebrate a Mass for the 10th Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis March 13 at 12:05 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.
