Former Jesuit seminarian explains pope’s leadership

“Authentic power is service,” Pope Francis said shortly after he was elected pope.
    But how did he come to believe and live that?
    Chris Lowney, author of  “Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads,” said “leaders act on beliefs and convictions formed long before they reached the executive suite or papal apartments. … Pope Francis’ commitment to immersion in the world … bears the fingerprints of his Jesuit formation.”
 
  When he decided to write the book, Lowney, a former Jesuit seminarian familiar with the philosophy of the order’s founder – St. Ignatius of Loyola – didn’t seek to write a biography. He wanted to learn how the pope honed his leadership style from people who knew and lived with him before he was a public person.
    He didn’t hear about then-Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s speeches, but got stories of how, as rector, he fed pigs, washed clothes and was willing to do what he expected of seminarians at the seminary.
What others experienced
    For example, Father Tómas Bradley, as a student at the Jesuit Colegio Máximo San José while Father Bergoglio was rector, clearly remembered seeing him do laundry at 5:30 a.m. He also recalled his urgings of seminarians “to be committed to daily prayer and reflection, something needed to sustain a person during his active life and told them to dedicate yourself to what you’re doing and do it well,” Lowney cites as Ignatian thought.
    Feeding the pigs on the seminary farm in plastic boots and Father Bergoglio being a popular spiritual director, even though he was tough on students about their studies, were memories of Father Hernán Paredes as a seminarian.
    Father Bergoglio being in the trenches with others is a vital leadership habit: “The commitment to stay in touch, deal with reality, accept accountability for one’s work and decisions and recognize that we humans are all inextricably linked both in our local community and globally,” Lowney said.
    Father Alejandro Gauffin’s story was when Father Bergoglio was appointed the pastor of a new parish. Instead of waiting for Catholics to come inside, he and seminarians went outside the church to meet people where they were – just like he is saying now, to go out in the streets and evangelize and “accompany them on their journey.”
    He wanted the seminarians to learn that “closeness to poor people was important to the formation of a priest’s heart,” Lowney surmised.
    “This idea that we have to do something to meet the people where they are is a powerful mindset,” Lowney  said.
Crystal clear message
     Pope Francis’ leadership style emerged as soon he stood on the balcony after his March 13 election. Unprecedentedly, he wore his own pectoral cross instead of selecting a more ornate one; he asked the people to bless him; he chose to live in simpler quarters instead of the papal residence.
    The Ignatian notion of being active in the world among the people was clear on Holy Thursday when he washed and kissed the feet of youth at the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center and again April 9 when he hugged an 8-year-old Rhode Island boy with cerebral palsy.
    “Ignatius says to find God in the world, “ Lowney said. “We need to be finding God out there (outside of the church walls). You see that a lot in Francis.
    “For me, the Jesuits have always had a real frontier spirit. I think Pope Francis has a lot of that in him. In his homilies, words that come up a lot include journey, frontier, marginalized and periphery. … Today, frontier could mean go to downtown New Orleans and engage with people who do not go to church.”
How he will drive change
    That example leads Lowney to think Pope Francis will drive change to meet today’s world needs – in the direction of Catholics being more pro-active, doing more outreach and being engaged in faith.
    “The days of people just coming to us because we are the church are over,” he said.
    Embracing simplicity – with Pope Francis as the ultimate example – is another tenet he believes Francis will emphasize. As a church, Lowney thinks Pope Francis wants us to be more closely identified with the poor and marginalized.
    “He wants to push that forward,” Lowney said. “Jesus identified a lot with people who are poor and downcast, and we could go farther in that regard.”
    He sees the pope as someone not afraid to make changes, but someone who will have trusted advisors (the Jesuits would call impartial mentors) to help create change. Some things he thinks will be addressed by the international Council of Cardinals will be the Vatican Bank and the  reorganizing of the Vatican Curia to reflect his vision of a church in the trenches with the people.
    Lowney thinks Pope Francis’ Jesuit education will serve him well as he makes tough decisions since much of Ignatian spirituality and techniques have to do with making good decisions.
    “You always decide on your purpose first, your goal and when you are free, you can make your decision,” he said. “Jesuit spirituality trains people in making difficult life decisions. I think that will become useful to him.”
    Lowney hopes the book offers readers a window into how the pope thinks and leads.
    “But the book isn’t just about reflecting on the life of the pope,” he said. “An important part to me is taking lessons away from it for life: ‘What can I do? How can I lead better in my family, in my department at work, in my school, whatever my job is?’”
    He said most Americans are disgusted with our current leaders, especially in politics, and he hopes the book would “ignite a broader conversation about the kind of leadership we have and the kind of leadership we want.”
    Lowney believes Pope Francis’ genuine concern for humanity, displayed in an informal way with hope and optimism, will serve him well to unite factions within and outside of the church.
    “He’s pioneering a different way of communicating,” Lowney said, one more accessible to the average person.
    Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarion herald.org.