Pope Francis – Why He Leads The
Way He Leads
by Chris Lowney
In Pope Francis – Why He Leads The Way He
Leads, Chris
Lowney reveals how Pope Francis’ Jesuit background has shaped his leadership
principles. The author draws on 3 sources
of information to illustrate Pope Francis’ leadership style:
·
What he has been “saying and doing” during his
papacy;
·
Leadership values he emphasized while
supervising Jesuit trainees in Argentina;and,
·
Principles he learned during his own Jesuit
training.
Lowney identifies “six habits and convictions”
(9) that define Pope Francis’ leadership – habits and convictions that, at face
value, seem somewhat paradoxical.
In Chapter 2, Lowney identifies a few aspects
of Jesuit training that heavily influenced Pope Francis’ leadership
values. St. Ignatius developed Spiritual
Exercises – a series of meditations on Jesus’ life, the novice Jesuit’s
personal history, and how specifically the novice might follow Jesus. Lowney believes that “These Exercises are
almost certainly the most fundamental influence on the pope’s spirituality.”
(12) Another Jesuit influence on him has
been the “frontier spirit” of Jesuit missionary life. A third influence is the expectation that
young Jesuits teach.
In chapters 3 and 4, Lowney explores Pope
Francis’ first two apparently contradictory convictions: know yourself deeply but live to serve others. Before he was ordained, the pope wrote a
credo that reflects his profound understanding of himself: I am flawed, I am a good and
gifted person, and I am called to
offer my gifts. Lowney explains how the pope’s credo drives him to lead
with integrity and purpose:
· I am flawed.
I can’t function effectively in the world if I give free rein
to every impulse. I
owe it to myself to battle my own demons.
· I am gifted and fundamentally good. There is a unique contribution
that I can make, and therefore,
· I am called to lead. (39)
 |
| A model for the world of humility, Pope Francis often requests that people pray for him |
In Pope Francis’ view, a leader must, though, transcend self to serve
others. Lowney shares as the symbol of Pope Francis’ devotion to serving others
his memorable Holy Thursday 2013 washing of the feet of several male and female
young people in the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention centre. He also gives other examples of the pope’s
humble service to others, such as the time when he was bishop and flew from
Argentina to Japan and back just to spend a few hours with seminarians studying
there. When invited by them to spend his
time in Japan sight-seeing, he declined, saying, “I came here to see you.” (46)
 |
| Pope Francis demonstrates humility by washing feet of inmates on Holy Thursday |
Chapters 5-6 address Pope Francis’ third and fourth convictions: immerse yourself in the world but withdraw
from the world daily. Telling examples Lowney provides of the pope’s commitment
to engaging in the commonest elements of everyday life are taken from his time spent
running a seminary in Argentina. While
there, he would rise early each morning to do the laundry and to feed the pigs
on the farm attached to the Colegio Maximo complex. He also insisted that the
young Jesuits he trained go into the impoverished nearby neighbourhoods to
teach catechism to the children. As
pope, he continues his immersion in the world by rejecting the idea of living
in the isolation of the papal apartment, and instead, choosing to share meals
and live among the other residents of the Vatican guesthouse. Lowney describes the pope’s leadership as dirty-footed: “Those dirty feet –
Bergoglio’s at the pig trough and the seminarian’s in the barrio – crystallize
a vital but increasingly endangered 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. (59)
During his Holy Thursday 2013 homily, he directed priests to “tend their
flocks so attentively that they would come to bear the ‘smell of the sheep.’”
(72) Throughout the first year of his
papacy, he personally called and emailed individuals to model his leadership
theme of remaining “grounded”, learning from people before you teach them, and
treating “each person as a uniquely dignified individual.” (73) The wisdom of Pope Francis’ dirty-footed
leadership is thus:
·
You can’t lead us if you don’t know our
reality;
·
You will know our reality only by walking among
us;
·
Don’t just look; do something and learn
something. (66)
 |
| Immersing himself in his community meant that, while serving as Cardinal in Argentina, Pope Francis frequently rode city buses |
Paradoxically though, Pope Francis’ antidote for dealing with the
problems and challenges of the world is his fourth conviction - to “Step back
from it all” and “commit to a regimen of reflection [particularly prayer].”
(74) He modeled this value on his first
day as pope by foregoing administrative duties to pay a visit to St. Mary Major
Basilica to pray. Lowney points out that the pope’s emphasis on “decluttering
his mind to refocus on priorities” (80) several times a day is grounded in the
Jesuit practice of the Examen – the
daily examination of conscience. Lowney humorously suggests we use the “Bergoglio
app” to remind ourselves everyday to carve up some daily reflection time: “Even
the dumbest of smartphone alarms can be programmed to chime us into a few
moments on nonaction each day.” (87)
 |
| Archbishop Terrence Prendergast models the Examen for Learning Leaders at the Ottawa Catholic School Board |
The final two convictions of the pope, as identified by Lowney, are the
subjects of chapters 7 and 8: Live in the
present and revere tradition, but create the future. The author explains
that Pope Francis’ commitment to always attending to the moment is based on
Jesuit tradition which states “Do what you are doing”. (92) He shares as an example the time when the
pope was a cardinal and risked being late for an appointment in order to hear the
unplanned confession of a distraught man.
Then again, the pope has made several pronouncements like the following on the
importance of basing actions on Catholic values of the past: “A Christian
without memory is not a true Christian … he or she is a prisoner of
circumstance, of the moment.” (98)
Though
he reveres the Catholic values and traditions of the past, Pope Francis is not
overly attached to the status quo, according to Lowney. He argues that the pope inherited from
Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuit founder, a bias for action. Ignatius, a proponent for missionary zeal,
told his followers, “Live with one foot raised.” (123) For Lowney, it’s the pope’s belief in
momentum and progress that drive his commitment to change.
Lowney postulates
two steps in Pope Francis’ change philosophy.
The first step is depicting a new culture for the Catholic Church. He wants a “humbler, simpler Church” that
embraces “those at society’s peripheries – the poor, vulnerable, and
marginalized. ‘How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor,’ he has
told journalists.” (126) The next step
is moving from vision to action, which requires four aspects of change agentry:
1. Unify the team around a common mission;
2. Put the mission ahead of self-interest;
3. Don’t run from the future; run toward it; and,
4. Be biased toward
action and tolerate failed experiments. (128)
