Book: Francis, Pope of Good Promise by Jimmy Burns

Francis, Pope of Good Promise
Jimmy Burns
Constable, £25

The title of this, the fifth biography of the Pope to appear in English (two in the US and three in the UK), implies both a question and its answer. Jimmy Burns is not uncritical of Francis, but the thrust of the book is that the current occupant of the throne of St Peter (a title which one may guess makes that occupant, 'bishop of Rome', as he likes to call himself, uncomfortable) is the great white hope of the Catholic Church.

In Burns Francis is blessed with an unusually well-qualified biographer: a writer, British but born in Spain of part-Spanish parentage, a fluent Spanish speaker, and one whose journalistic travels have taken him to many places, not least the Argentina of the 'dirty wars'. Burns was also educated by the Jesuits at Stoneyhurst School, so he is more than familiar with the spirituality which has so much influenced his subject and for those who need to know he sketches in some history. Thus, Burns has an instinctive feel the context of his subject's life and vocation (as well as an academic knowledge) that serves well both subject and reader.

This is, too, a very personal book - Burns, the researcher and journalist, often speaks in the first person of his encounters in writing the book (not least, quite movingly, in the crowd in St Peter's Square, as the Pope stops to bless a baby that Burns has taken from its parents further back). This is none the worst for that; indeed, it is of a piece with the book itself.

No one can understand who someone is without knowledge of where they came from. Very obviously, John Paul II's papacy could not be understood with knowledge of his life and that of the Church under Communism (and his own efforts against the Nazis, too). Francis is no exception, except that Francis is perhaps unusual in being a pope who changed and became aware of his own shortcomings, albeit before he came to the papacy.

Francis was born into a lower middle Italian immigrant family (itself significant in his present stance on refugees), and one also which supported Juan Peron. It is perhaps forgotten that now, with promulgated a 'third way' long before Bill Clinton and Tony Blair; a stance between communism and free market capitalism that accords, to an extent, with Catholic Social Teaching, and has echoes in the pronouncements of popes on economic matters.

Argentina during the lifetime of its most famous son has been a perilous place, even perilous in a different way under democracy. Bergoglio had to steer by some difficult rocks and through choppy waters, not least as head of the Jesuits and then as archbishop. Such political (in both senses of the word) nouse may serve him well in the equally turbulent seas of the Vatican.

If one had to characterise Bergoglio in political terms in his earlier Argentinian days one might say he was of the right. However, such labels often miss nuance and subtlety. He certainly steered a path between leftism and Marxist liberation theology and regard for the poor. This was not always to the taste of fellow Jesuits. He was then to spend a time of reflection, removed from the provincial post and his return as archbishop saw him veering more to the left, or, that is, he challenged Peronist and liberal governments over corruption and inequality in the country.

Burns, who suffers from some sloppy copy readers, tries to hold a balance always between who Francis is and who Bergoglio was and writes: "While Pope Francis's spirituality is not in doubt, the life of Jorge Bergoglio, as Jesuit priest and bishop, was far from flawless, and deeply human in its vulnerability and complexity."

The pace of development in Francis' papacy means that it has been impossible for Burns to keep up with events: the encyclical on climate change came too late for inclusion and the culture wars within American Catholicism, for which Laudato Si' was yet a further trigger, are not mentioned.

How much of the promise of the title will be realised we do not know. Francis is good at throwing out the liberal sound bite on gays and non-believers among others. These are not authorative pronouncements or a substitute for rigorous theological reflection on these and other matters (like women priests, priestly celibacy or abortion) and neither does he mean them to be. But they are jumped on by some (like The Guardian) who otherwise have no time for Catholicism (or even religion) and forget that any pope, is, if nothing else, a Catholic and the Church moves exceeding slow, when it moves at all.

This book, like others published in the last two and a half years, will soon date and no doubt in two or three years, its author will offer a revised edition. For now, with Francis still an objective of curiosity, with so many wanting to know more (as did this writer) it is an excellent introduction to the man, his life and his theology.

That said, Burns, like most Francis enthusiasts, does not take into account one fact: that the promise rests on the shoulders of a man of 78. We know that whatever other gifts the Holy Spirit bestows upon a pope on his election, in the case of both of Francis' two immediate predecessors, even when it is the gift of long life, good health does not accompany it. John Paul II's great work was done by the time frailty felled him and Benedict came too late to the papacy to make a real mark. Francis appears to be an extraordinarily robust and lively man for his age. Let us hope that he lives long and productively enough for Burns to tell us later whether that promise was fulfilled.

Terry Philpot is a writer whose latest book is Beside the Seaside: Brighton's People and Its Places (Step Beach Press, 2015)