Biographer says Pope Francis will bring reform and renewal to Church
(Vatican Radio) With the election of Pope Francis, journalists everywhere are trying
to discover more about the man who has become the new head of the Catholic Church.
Dr Matthew Bunson is a Catholic journalist and author who is writing a biography about
the new Pope and has been carrying out extensive research on his life. He spoke to
Vatican Radio’s Susy Hodges about his findings.
Listen to the extended interview
with author and journalist Dr Matthew Bunson who is a correspondent for the U.S. Catholic
weekly, Our Sunday Visitor:
Asked about
some of the most striking features about the new Pope, Bunson says the first two words
“that spring to mind” are “authenticity and mercy.” He’s also a man, adds Bunson,
who has “established a real connection with people all over the world” since he became
Pope. Among his many qualities, Bunson points to Pope Francis’ capacity for deep
pastoral leadership and “his thirst for holiness.”
Given that prior to his
election to the papacy, the former Cardinal Bergoglio spent nearly all his life in
his native Argentina, Bunson speaks at length about how he was perceived there. He
says that Cardinal Bergoglio served “as the conscience of the nation” and was a “very
powerful and prophetic voice and an immensely popular one.” Bunson says the Argentine
Cardinal “proved very much a bridge-builder” among the different social classes in
his homeland and in that sense “became the moral voice for the nation.”
Asked
what will be the main message for readers in his forthcoming biography about the Pope,
Bunson says: “the chief message is that we have in Pope Francis somebody who will
bring reform but who perceives as well that reform must always be tied to spiritual
renewal” and therefore “he stands in the rich tradition of the Church of reform and
renewal.”