As the daughter of a Maronite priest and having grown in a fervent home, most people get bothered by some of my rebellious takes on the Church and people of the Cloth. In my defense, I have my "insider" perspective and my senses to guide me and I don't impose my point of view on anyone. I decided to read this book at a time when I had very high doubts about the statements of Pope Francis, who had been marketed as a reformer and the person who would take the Catholic Church into modern times. Hmmm. I am skeptical of crowd or mainstream opinions, and even if I definitely am not a judgemental person, I intuitively try to connect the dots and understand the bigger picture. I had just been reading about the Black Pope and the Jesuits, who are not very dear to my heart, to say the least, and was curious to find out more about Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first Jesuit Pope of the Roman Catholic Church who came from the Americas.
The author, Austen Ivereigh, is a British Roman Catholic journalist who holds a PhD from Oxford on religion and politics in Argentina. This hagiography is easy to read and 455 pages long. It was published shortly after Cardinal Bergoglio was named Pope. It relies on several sources: the Pope's speeches and writings, the account of his friends, and also some parishioners. The pontiff's bio depicts him as the son of immigrants who didn't have an easy life and who doesn't shy away from debate, without being a liberal. He does claim that "God is not afraid of new things" and it seems he can make some serious waves through the Church and the communities worldwide, as well as create serious controversy when it comes to his narrative on homosexuality and divorce for instance. And his recent position on the Covid injections, which I do not understand. He was equally denounced for not being sharply decisive against the Bishops accused of covering up sex crimes against minors. He has always criticized Donald Trump and the supporters of the former US President don't miss a chance to get back at him...
Does all this make him a good or a bad Pope? Who am I to say? I'm not one to cast the first stone. Do I agree on it all? Of course not! I observe. Form my opinion. And wait to see how things unfold. I know that change, in whichever direction it might head, can only come from inside any type of institution or structure. I am not a zealot nor a bigot and I remain a spiritual daughter of the Church while reserving myself the right to raise my voice when I see it stray away from the teaching of our Lord. Then again, I am no theologian nor am I so knowledgeable to cast a verdict, even if I wanted to. And since I cannot have all the needed info to come to a final conclusion, I do notice the black spots on the white shirt and choose to live and let live, firmly believing that "to err is human; to forgive, divine" (Alexander Pope). Because "faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof" (Khalil Gibran).
