Latest news with #Hope:TheAutobiography
The Independent
26-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Pope Francis wrote a memoir, but his most painful secrets were never revealed
With just a few days to go before leaving office, former President Joe Biden made one of his last acts the awarding of the US Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to Pope Francis – the first time during his presidency that Biden offered it with distinction. According to the citation: 'Pope Francis is unlike any who came before. Above all, he is the People's Pope.' That he was unlike any previous pope is undoubtedly true as the Pope's own memoir, Hope: The Autobiography, published in January, made clear. Even the book itself is a first: no living pope had written a such a book while in office. John XXIII's Journal of Soul, created out of his diaries and jottings, was published after he died in 1963, while a John Paul II volume, Crossing The Threshold of Hope, was created out of his written answers to a broadcaster's cancelled interview. Hope is a book that combines an account of Pope Francis' life with his musings on faith, love, poverty, migrants, women, gay people, and rows in the Catholic church between liberals and more traditionalist Catholics. Unlike most memoirs by, say, politicians, film stars and football managers, it could not be subtitled, 'I was right all along'. Francis regularly admitted to mistakes and talked about dark times. But he was frustratingly light on details when it came to what had gone wrong in his life. Fortunately, there were some big reveals too, not least about a gobsmacking big box of documents about scandals passed to him by his predecessor Pope Benedict, and how the British security services saved his life in Iraq. But, first, what made Francis so different from previous popes? It's the backstory that is so fascinating. As he recounted in Hope, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he was born in 1936 in Argentina, the child of a large migrant Italian family, who grew up with a love of football and a passion for tango (it has 'backbone, strength, character, an emotional, visceral dialogue that comes from afar, from ancient roots'). After studying chemistry, he joined the Jesuit order, and was then ordained a priest, becoming the leader, or provincial of the order at a very young age, and eventually became the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. By the time Bergoglio was planning to retire, Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world in 2013 and announced he was resigning – the first pope to do so since the 15th century. The then Cardinal Bergoglio set off for Rome to take part in the conclave to elect Benedict's successor – and the rest is history. The book does not mention that Bergoglio came second in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI in 2005 but Francis suggested in Hope that he had no idea that he would be chosen by his fellow cardinals to lead the 1.4 billion members of the Roman Catholic Church, and so bought a return airline ticket and left all his belongings behind in Buenos Aires. Perhaps he thought his time had been and gone. But we then get an account of his election, and the five ballots it took to reach the two thirds majority needed to secure election to what Catholics call the Throne of St Peter. We read, in the Pope's own words, how he felt as he realised that he was now pope: calm, quite sure of how he did not want the fripperies surrounding being pope. No, he did not want to wear red shoes, he would stick with his black orthopaedic ones. As to white trousers, they would make him look like an ice-cream seller, he would wear his black ones. Nor did he want the papal apartment in the apostolic palace in the Vatican. He would make do with a room in Santa Marta, the Vatican residence for guests. 'I'm happy at Santa Marta because I have people around me', he wrote. He recalled visiting Pope Benedict a few days later, and how the pope emeritus handed him a large white box. There was speculation at the time that it might contain information about various scandals but then a source told Vatican reporters that it was full of emails and other material. But in Hope, Francis recounted that Benedict told him 'Everything is in here'. Francis then wrote that it contained 'documents relating to the most difficult and painful situations: cases of abuse, corruption, dark dealings, wrongdoings'. But he then left the reader hanging with no more information about what those scandals might have been. Among them must surely have been documents about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, at one time Archbishop of Washington, who was accused of sexual misconduct involving young seminarians and accusations were made to the Vatican about him on several occasions. Yet Francis said that he was reportedly unaware of his misdemeanours until 2018, with McCarrick then resigning that year and was laicized in 2019. But in Hope, Pope Francis just mentioned him in passing even though it was one of the greatest scandals in the Church of recent times. There were other more personal stories which are not fully explained either. After being appointed provincial (regional leader) of the Argentinian Jesuits at the age of just 36, Francis later fell out with the Jesuits. Then a rather rigid, conservative man, he was 'exiled' by the order's global leadership to Argentina's second city of Cordoba, where he could only hear confessions and not celebrate Mass at the local Jesuit church. But after his two year 'banishment' he returned to Buenos Aires a changed man, now a more flexible, understanding, compassionate individual. Quite what happened in Cordoba to effect such a huge transformation was not spelled out. Nor is what happened to two fellow Jesuit priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics, who were arrested and detained for nearly five months by the Argentinian junta. Pope Francis was accused on several occasions on failing to do enough to help them. Here he says 'I tried everything', but he didn't spell out what everything consisted of. But one got the sense of how difficult a place Argentina was in the past, with one of the Pope's own teachers suffering at the hands of the junta too. He revealed that at one point he hid her collection of Marxist and other radical books in a Jesuit library. Violence is always a worry for world leaders, of course, and security surrounding the Pope is always heavy – not least because John Paul II was lucky to survive an assassination attempt in 1981. Francis revealed that in 2021 it was British security services who picked up on a plot to kill him during a visit to Iraq. British intelligence told Iraqi police that a woman wearing explosives was heading towards Mosul and was planning to blow herself up during the papal visit. 'A truck was heading there fast with the same intention,' he wrote, later being told that both had been dealt with. As well as highlighting the risks Francis had taken – he went to other dangerous places in his lifetime – the incident revealed a significant moment of cooperation between the Vatican and the UK. Rather different to previous times – not mentioned in Hope – when, as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, he had celebrated a 13th anniversary mass to mark the end of the Falklands War. He urged the congregation to 'pray for those who have fallen, sons of the fatherland who went out to defend the fatherland, to claim as theirs what had been usurped [by the British].' Nor does Hope mention the alarm raised by Bergoglio's election which led to the British government sending the UK ambassador to the Holy See to visit the Pope's secretary of state and reiterate that the Falkland Islands – or Malvinas as the Argentinian Pope called them – were British. The message seemed to get through, although Francis was often not a diplomat. Which is why there were some key messages for Donald Trump's administration, not least about climate change, the deportation of migrants and compassion for the marginalised and vulnerable.
Hindustan Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Review: Hope; The Autobiography by Pope Francis
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, 21 April 2025. He was 88. In his Easter address, which was also his last public appearance, the pontiff called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Known for his liberal views, Pope Francis voiced his opinions on a variety of issues from climate change to the refugee crisis to the legalisation of same-sex marriages. But there was more to him, as revealed in his memoir, Hope: The Autobiography — a first by a sitting pope. Co-authored with Carlo Musso, the book, which was written over six years was translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon, who also happens to be the translator of Umberto Eco's later works. In a note towards the end of the book, Musso writes that 'this exceptional document was originally intended to be published after [Pope Francis'] death. But the new Jubilee of Hope and the circumstances of this moment' — perhaps hinting at the then hospitalised pope's fragile health — convinced the principal author to share his 'precious legacy' in his lifetime. Divided into 25 chapters, Hope begins with an arresting and unlikely prologue. It tells the story of the sinking of 'the Italian Titanic', the SS Principessa Mafalda (named after Princess Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy). Pope Francis writes, 'My grandparents and their only son, Mario, the young man who would become my father, had bought their ticket for that long crossing, for that ship that set sail from the port of Genoa on October 11, 1927, bound for Buenos Aires.' As fate had it, the Bergoglio family didn't take the journey because 'they couldn't sell what they owned in time', making the pope ever thankful to 'Divine Providence'. While Pope Francis' grandparents couldn't manage to take SS Principessa Mafalda, they did sail on the SS Giulio Cesare. Like everyone else, they moved in search of a better standard of living or perhaps to escape poverty. The pope writes about this journey in the first chapter, May My Tongue Stick to My Palate, which is revelatory, for it underscores why he spoke with so much empathy about the plight of refugees, making him conclude that migration is 'a story of yesterday as much as one of today.' This is a characteristic feature of the recollections of Pope Francis. He manages to contextualise the past in a way that not only helps the reader understand the chaotic present but also points towards the future. Perhaps this is why Rainer Maria Rilke's quote from Letter Eight features as an epigraph: 'The future enters into us / so as to transform itself in us / long before it happens.' Additionally, Pope Francis shares a personal anecdote and marries it effectively with the causes of the issues facing us. For example, he notes that the 'greatest producer of migrants is war' but whenever one is asked to reflect on who can be held culpable of the 'bloodshed', they quickly absolve themselves. This then results in 'the globalisation of indifference'. Perhaps this explains why genocides are carried out in plain sight. In the initial chapters, the pope remembers his grandparents, Italian immigrants to Argentina, Nono Giovanni and Nona Rosa extremely fondly. Nona Rosa gave birth to six children, but only Mario, the pope's father, survived. He informs readers of his father's salary, which was 'far from 'a fair wage to the workers''. 'It makes us understand how, then as now, work was and is an essential condition but is too frequently insufficient for personal freedom, for independence, or for escaping poverty,' he states. This demonstrates, once again, his belief in the politics of equality and fairness. In chapters like They Feed upon My People as They Feed upon Bread, he remembers and honours Esther Ballestrino de Careaga, the person in charge of a test laboratory where he worked as a schoolboy. The pope often apologises and seeks forgiveness for past 'evils'. The sexual abuse of children is mentioned in the chapter titled Responding with the Deepest Vibrations. In telling the story of a 'paraplegic boy' who was taken advantage of, the pope underlines that these crimes must be condemned, that 'no silence or concealment can be tolerated', and that he wanted the 'victims to know that the pope is on their side'. However, he doesn't address in full measure the Chile Church scandal, for which he was heavily criticised. He allowed bishop Juan Barros Madrid, who knew the abuser of minors, Fernando Karadima, to lead a mass in Chile. So, though the pope is self-critical in several parts of the book, he, as The Guardian reviewer Catherine Pepinster rightly points out, 'skates over the row'. While there are many overwhelming bits in this memoir, there are lighter moments too. The pope had a tremendous sense of humour and recollects many hilarious incidents from his early life. One has him and other children, 'creep up to [a widow's] bedroom window'. They would start 'shouting, calling, banging' on it whenever she had a policeman home. An insightful read, the papal autobiography manages to achieve the goal that Musso outlines in his note: the 'fervent desire to pass on two of the most enduring things human beings can bequeath: roots and wings.' Saurabh Sharma is a Delhi-based writer and freelance journalist. They can be found on Instagram/X: @writerly_life.
The Independent
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Pope Francis was the most open pontiff there has ever been - but there were painful secrets he never revealed
With just a few days to go before leaving office, President Joe Biden has made one of his last acts the awarding of the US Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to Pope Francis – the first time during his presidency that Biden offered it with distinction. According to the citation: 'Pope Francis is unlike any who came before. Above all, he is the People's Pope.' That he was unlike any previous pope is undoubtedly true as the Pope's own memoir, Hope: The Autobiography, published in January, made clear. Even the book itself is a first: no living pope had written a such a book while in office. John XXIII's Journal of Soul, created out of his diaries and jottings, was published after he died in 1963, while a John Paul II volume, Crossing The Threshold of Hope, was created out of his written answers to a broadcaster's cancelled interview. Hope is a book that combines an account of Pope Francis' life with his musings on faith, love, poverty, migrants, women, gay people, and rows in the Catholic church between liberals and more traditionalist Catholics. Unlike most memoirs by, say, politicians, film stars and football managers, it could not be subtitled, 'I was right all along'. Francis regularly admitted to mistakes and talked about dark times. But he was frustratingly light on details when it came to what had gone wrong in his life. Fortunately, there were some big reveals too, not least about a gobsmacking big box of documents about scandals passed to him by his predecessor Pope Benedict, and how the British security services saved his life in Iraq. But, first, what made Francis so different from previous popes? It's the backstory that is so fascinating. As he recounted in Hope, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he was born in 1936 in Argentina, the child of a large migrant Italian family, who grew up with a love of football and a passion for tango (it has 'backbone, strength, character, an emotional, visceral dialogue that comes from afar, from ancient roots'). After studying chemistry, he joined the Jesuit order, and was then ordained a priest, becoming the leader, or provincial of the order at a very young age, and eventually became the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. By the time Betgoglio was planning to retire, Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world in 2013 and announced he was resigning – the first pope to do so since the 15th century. The then Cardinal Bergoglio set off for Rome to take part in the conclave to elect Benedict's successor – and the rest is history. The book does not mention that Bergoglio came second in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI in 2005 but Francis suggested in Hope that he had no idea that he would be chosen by his fellow cardinals to lead the 1.4 billion members of the Roman Catholic Church, and so bought a return airline ticket and left all his belongings behind in Buenos Aires. Perhaps he thought his time had been and gone. But we then get an account of his election, and the five ballots it took to reach the two thirds majority needed to secure election to what Catholics call the Throne of St Peter. We read, in the Pope's own words, how he felt as he realised that he was now pope: calm, quite sure of how he did not want the fripperies surrounding being pope. No, he did not want to wear red shoes, he would stick with his black orthopaedic ones. As to white trousers, they would make him look like an ice-cream seller, he would wear his black ones. Nor did he want the papal apartment in the apostolic palace in the Vatican. He would make do with a room in Santa Marta, the Vatican residence for guests. 'I'm happy at Santa Marta because I have people around me', he wrote. He recalled visiting Pope Benedict a few days later, and how the pope emeritus handed him a large white box. There was speculation at the time that it might contain information about various scandals but then a source told Vatican reporters that it was full of emails and other material. But in Hope, Francis recounted that Benedict told him 'Everything is in here'. Francis then wrote that it contained 'documents relating to the most difficult and painful situations: cases of abuse, corruption, dark dealings, wrongdoings'. But he then left the reader hanging with no more information about what those scandals might have been. Among them must surely have been documents about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, at one time Archbishop of Washington, who was accused of sexual misconduct involving young seminarians and accusations were made to the Vatican about him on several occasions. Yet Francis said that he was reportedly unaware of his misdemeanours until 2018, with McCarrick then resigning that year and was laicized in 2019. But in Hope, Pope Francis just mentioned him in passing even though it was one of the greatest scandals in the Church of recent times. There were other more personal stories which are not fully explained either. After being appointed provincial (regional leader) of the Argentinian Jesuits at the age of just 36, Francis later fell out with the Jesuits. Then a rather rigid, conservative man, he was 'exiled' by the order's global leadership to Argentina's second city of Cordoba, where he could only hear confessions and not celebrate Mass at the local Jesuit church. But after his two year 'banishment' he returned to Buenos Aires a changed man, now a more flexible, understanding, compassionate individual. Quite what happened in Cordoba to effect such a huge transformation was not spelled out. Nor is what happened to two fellow Jesuit priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics, who were arrested and detained for nearly five months by the Argentinian junta. Pope Francis was accused on several occasions on failing to do enough to help them. Here he says 'I tried everything', but he didn't spell out what everything consisted of. But one got the sense of how difficult a place Argentina was in the past, with one of the Pope's own teachers suffering at the hands of the junta too. He revealed that at one point he hid her collection of Marxist and other radical books in a Jesuit library. Violence is always a worry for world leaders, of course, and security surrounding the Pope is always heavy – not least because John Paul II was lucky to survive an assassination attempt in 1981. Francis revealed that in 2021 it was British security services who picked up on a plot to kill him during a visit to Iraq. British intelligence told Iraqi police that a woman wearing explosives was heading towards Mosul and was planning to blow herself up during the papal visit. 'A truck was heading there fast with the same intention,' he wrote, later being told that both had been dealt with. As well as highlighting the risks Francis had taken – he went to other dangerous places in his lifetime – the incident revealed a significant moment of cooperation between the Vatican and the UK. Rather different to previous times – not mentioned in Hope – when, as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, he had celebrated a 13th anniversary mass to mark the end of the Falklands War. He urged the congregation to 'pray for those who have fallen, sons of the fatherland who went out to defend the fatherland, to claim as theirs what had been usurped [by the British].' Nor does Hope mention the alarm raised by Bergoglio's election which led to the British government sending the UK ambassador to the Holy See to visit the Pope's secretary of state and reiterate that the Falkland Islands – or Malvinas as the Argentinian Pope called them – were British. The message seemed to get through, although Francis was often not a diplomat. Which is why there were some key messages for Donald Trump's administration, not least about climate change, the deportation of migrants and compassion for the marginalised and vulnerable.
The Hindu
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Nine days of mourning for Pope Francis, says CBCI
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) condoled the death of Pope Francis on Monday (April 21, 2025) and said that the Catholic Church in India will observe nine days of mourning and prayers. It appealed to Catholics in India to offer a holy mass for the Pope. CBCI and Chavara Cultural Centre Delhi organised a condolence meeting at the Diocesan Community Centre, Sacred Heart Cathedral in which leaders from various faiths, diplomats, clergy, and public figures came together. Delivering the keynote address, Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, Archbishop of Delhi and secretary general of CBCI, said Pope Francis was not just the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church but a bridge-builder across faiths and nations. 'His humility, courage and unwavering stand for justice and mercy will guide humanity for generations to come,' he said. Also Read | Pope Francis: 1936-2025 Joshua Mar Ignathios, chair of the CBCI Dialogue Commission, remembered Pope Francis as 'the Jesus of our times', noting his deep concern for the marginalised, the environment, and the cause of global brotherhood. Subodh Mandal, Bishop of the Church of North India, and Thomas Mar Anthonios OIC also offered prayers and remembrances. Among the dignitaries present were former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP G.K. Vasan and former Union Minister of State K.J. Alphons. The evening saw tributes from several ambassadors, including Javier Manuel Velarde (Peru), Jacqueline Mukangira (Rwanda), Reuban Gaucci (Malta), Omar Castaneda (Guatemala), Kevin Kelly (Ireland), and Joao Ribeiro de Almeida (Portugal), each reflecting on Pope Francis' message of hope and unity that transcended borders. People's pontiff | Jerry Pinto reviews Hope: The Autobiography by Pope Francis The gathering concluded with an inter-religious prayer service led by leaders of different faiths echoing the Pope's lasting call – 'Let us build the future together with peace, with dialogue, and with love.' In a statement, CBCI, the permanent Association of the Catholic Hierarchy of India, said that the church 'joins millions of faithful across the world in mourning the loss of a shepherd who led the global Catholic Church with extraordinary courage, compassion, and humility.' The association said special prayers will be offered in all parishes and religious houses on the day of the funeral. 'If possible, all Catholic institutions across the country are requested to remain closed on the day of the funeral as a mark of respect and solidarity,' it said. Also Read | Pope Francis' proposed Papal visit to India that never happened Stating that the Catholic Church in India stands in 'prayerful solidarity with the universal Church during this time of loss', the association said that Pope Francis's pontificate was marked by an 'unwavering commitment to the poor, the refugees, and the marginalised in the society.' 'He was a tireless voice for social justice, economic equality, and human dignity — championing the cause of the forgotten and bringing their plight to the world's conscience,'' said Father Robinson Rodrigues, of CBCI. He added that the Pope's encyclical, a letter from the Pope to Catholic Bishops, Laudato si' , was a clarion call for ecological conversion and 'responsible stewardship of our common home'. With prophetic urgency, he urged the global community to take concrete actions against climate change and environmental degradation, uniting people of all faiths and ideologies in the care for creation. Also Read | Four Indian Cardinals to take part in Conclave to decide the next Pope 'A bridge-builder among nations and religions, Pope Francis promoted interfaith dialogue with humility and openness. His historic gestures of peace and mutual respect deepened understanding and solidarity among diverse religious traditions. We thank God for the life and ministry of Pope Francis—a true servant-leader, a father to the poor, and a prophet of hope. May his soul rest in peace, and may his legacy continue to inspire generations to come,'' said the association. Pope Francis canonised five lndian saints – St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Eluvathingal on 23rd November 2014, St. Joseph Vaz on 14th January 2015, St. Mariam Thresia Chiramel on 13th October 2019 and St. Devasahayam Pillai on 15th May 2022.
BBC News
13-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Five revelations Pope Francis make for im autobiography wey e call 'Hope'
Jorge Mario Bergoglio no be di first Pope from Latin America, but na di first since di 15th century to publish autobiography wen e still dey office. In fact, "Hope: The Autobiography" bin dey intended to dey published afta im death, but Francis decide to release am dis January. Few weeks later, dem admit Francis to Rome Gemelli Hospital for a respiratory infection wey bin lead to oda health complications. And although e remain for hospital, dis Thursday e celebrate im 12th anniversary as pope for stable condition. One recent chest CT scan even confam improvements of im condition. "Autobiography no be our private literature, but rather our travel bag. And memory no be only wetin we remember, but also wetin surround us," Francisco tok for im book. Di text dey based on more dan six years of conversations between Francis and Italian journalist Carlo Musso. For dia, e remember im memories of im youth for Buenos Aires, shares im reflections on topics such as migration, and tok about im life as Pope. "On evri page, for evri step, e also get di book of dose wey don walk wit me, dose wey don come bifor me, and dose wey go follow us," e add. Dis na are some of di most notable anecdotes and reflections from "Hope". 1. El hundimiento del barco Francisco story begins wit a shipwreck. Nine years bifor im birth, on October 11, 1927, im papa, Mario José Bergoglio, bin purchase tickets to travel from Genoa to Buenos Aires wit im parents by boat. But dat day Mario and im family no board di boat. Dem bin no quick sell di furniture for dia house wey dem dey leave behind to go settle for anoda kontri. So dem bin decide to return di tickets and postpone dia travel to Argentina. Few days later, while di Bergoglio family still dey for Italy, lightning strike di big ship Principessa Mafalda as e dey cross di Atlantic, and di accident bin end wit di sinking of di vessel. Di tragedy kill at least 300 pipo, according to di Pope autobiography. "Na why I dey here now," e tok as e reflect on di incident. Finally, two years later, Bergoglio papa arrived for Buenos Aires, wia dem be dey registered as "overseas immigrants." "No be new tori; as e be yesterday, naso e be today," Francisco comment na about di reason why people from di 1900 and today dey leave dia kontris in search of beta conditions. Dat na why, afta many years, on im first trip as pontiff outside di Vatican, Francis bin travel to Lampedusa, di Mediterranean island wey don become a symbol of migration. "E dey urgent to adopt measures to guarantee di right to emigrate," e tok. 2. The extra ballot Francis bin no expect to dey elected as di highest spiritual leader of di Catholic Church for 2013. At most, im bin believe say as Latin American cardinal, e fit get some of di votes among di votes. For di pre-conclave meeting, di applause wey di Argentine receive shock am afta im deliver one short speech. "Well, we need pesin to do dose tins," one of di cardinals tell am afta e listen to am. "Yes, but wia you go find am?" Bergoglio reply. –In you. –Hahaha! Yeah, sure, fine, go ahead, see you later. Di future Pope bin take dat comment as joke. Di conclave begin for March 12, 2013. Bergoglio arrive for Santa Marta wit a suitcase wey contain two tunics and little else. Im bin leave di rest of his tins for Buenos Aires, a city wey e neva return to afta dem elect am as Pope. Di first night of di conclave bin end witout consensus. Di following morning, on March 13, a second and third ballot happun wit little success, di two candidates no secure majority of 77 wey dey needed out of 115 votes. For di middle of di recess wey lead up to a fifth vote, one Latin American cardinal tell Bergoglio: –Shey you don prepare your speech? Prepare am well. "Which speech you dey tok about?" Bergoglio ask. "Di one you gatz deliver from di balcony!" di cardinal respond, referring to di new Pope first speech. "Dis na anoda joke?" Bergoglio ask imsef, as e no understand wetin dey go on. For di fourth round of voting, di Argentine bin receive 69 votes. But dat bin no dey enough. Di fifth round of voting bin create unexpected problem: extra ballot bin dey. Pesin bin put two pieces of cardboard togeda, so dem gatz burn dem all and repeat di process. Na for dat second round of di fifth round of voting dem hear di surname Bergoglio more dan 77 times. "I no know exactly how many votes dey at di end; I no fit hear dem anymore; di noise overshadow di scrutinizer voice," Francisco tok. "Shey you accept di canonical election of di Supreme Pontiff?" Cardinal Re ask am. "I accept," Bergoglio reply. Twelve years later, e admit: "I feel at peace, calm." Den dem bin load di cartridges wit white smoke, wey rise from di chimney of di Sistine Chapel as night fall. 3. La caja blanca Bergoglio election dey come afta di resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, di first pontiff in nearly 600 years to step down sake of health problems. For di beginning of im pontificate, Benedict bin hand Francis one "large white box." "Evritin dey here. Di records of di most difficult and painful situations, di abuses, di cases of corruption, di dark passages, di misdeeds," Francis say Benedict, who wey di for December 2022, tell am. "I don come this far, I don take dis measures, I don remove dis pipo. Now na your turn," Benedict add, according to Francis. For di book, di Pope define im predecessor as "father and brother" wey im get "authentic and correct relationship, beyond any legend constructed by dose wey don insist to tell different tori". Beyond dis and general comments, e no specify inside di book di contents of di box or tok about any particular case. 4. Di double attack Pope Francis bin travel to Iraq. Di Pope bin go to di city of Najaf, wey dey considered as di historical and spiritual centre of Shia Islam, to meet with Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani. Di Holy See bin dey prepare for di meeting for years, considered a milestone in interreligious dialogue. But di risks wey dey associated wit di Pope safety, amid di ongoing violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims, dey veri high, according to di Vatican. "Almost evrione bin advise me against dat trip, wey be di first trip by a Pope to dat kontri for di Middle East wey extremist violence and jihadist don scata," Francis write for im autobiography. 5. Di relationship with Borges For im autobiography, Francisco remember di time im bin meet di Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. At di time, Bergoglio na 27 years old and a professor of literature and psychology at di Immaculate Conception School for di province of Santa Fe, for central Argentina, where im bin teach creative writing course. Borges secretary na Bergoglio piano teacher, so she decide to send am two stories wey im student write. E den invite am to teach am few classes on wetin dey known for Argentina as "gaucho literature." "And e accept; e fit tok about anytin, and e never put on airs. At 66, e board a bus and make eight-hour trip from Buenos Aires to Santa Fe," di Pope, wey identify imsef as lover of reading and passionate about teaching, tok.
