Read Pope Francis (Pastor of Mercy) for Free Online Page A

gerund miserando is impossible to translate in both Italian and Spanish. I like to translate it with another gerund that does not exist: misericordiando [‘mercy-ing’].” Perhaps, we could translate the motto as “‘mercy-ing’ and choosing.”
     
    One of Bergoglio’s favorite works of literature is the classic 19th century Italian novel, “I Promessi Sposi”, translated as “The Betrothed”. Pope Francis tells Father Spadaro, “I have read The Betrothed, by Alessandro Manzoni, three times, and I have it now on my table because I want to read it again. Manzoni gave me so much. When I was a child, my grandmother taught me by heart the beginning of The Betrothed: ‘That branch of Lake Como that turns off to the south between two unbroken chains of mountains....’” The novel is set in 17th century Italy in a time when the people were burdened both by draconian oppressors and widespread panic and loss due to the Black Death whose torments neither spared the rich nor poor, the oppressor nor the oppressed.
     
    The violent and worldly power of Don Rodrigo, greatly feared by all, is contrasted with the mysterious and spiritual power of the one man who has no fear of him, the humble and saintly Father Christoforo. Father Christoforo carries no weapon and holds no high office. The Capuchin friar, not afraid of death by powerful men or by a terrible disease, is seen dressed in a humble habit, standing up to fearsome oppressors for the people, and tending to the victims of plague in their moment of death. He is the most powerful man in the novel, and surely an inspiration to Bergoglio.
     
    Pope Francis often speaks of goodness, truth, and beauty, aspects of all things that reflect the Creator, as an experience that unifies believers and non-believers. He told journalists who came out to meet the newly-elected Pope on March 16, 2013, “This is something we have in common, since the Church exists to communicate precisely this: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty ‘in person.’” Pope Francis has a great appreciation for musical beauty, something that his mother instilled in him when she would gather the children around the radio on Sunday afternoons. He shared with Father Spadaro some of his musical favorites, “Among musicians I love Mozart, of course. The ‘Et incarnatus est’ from his Mass in C minor is matchless; it lifts you to God! I love Mozart performed by Clara Haskil. Mozart fulfills me.... And then Bach’s Passions. The piece by Bach that I love so much is the ‘Erbarme Dich,’ the tears of Peter in the ‘St. Matthew Passion.’ Sublime.” He shared, in fact, that he mostly uses the radio to listen to classical music.
     
    Bergoglio is also very much a porteño, a native of Buenos Aires, in his interests. In fact, he shares in the book, “Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio”, that Buenos Aires is his favorite place in the world. He enjoys tango, saying, “It’s something that comes from within.” Bergoglio enjoys maté, a hot tea popular in Argentina made from the evergreen leaves of the yerba maté. It is prepared and drunk from a calabash gourd with a metal straw, called a bombilla, which has a mouthpiece at one end and a sieve at the other. The gourd is filled with dried, crushed leaves, and hot water is added, making for a distinct herb-like flavor. One well-circulated image of the newly elected Pope Francis was one of him sharing maté with President Christina de Kirschner, who, despite their differences, had come to Rome to congratulate him. He was also known for sharing maté in the homes of the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires.
     
    Joining as a boy, Pope Francis also continues to pay dues as a member of the San Lorenzo Soccer Club in Buenos Aires, and was recently presented in Rome by members with one of their red and blue jerseys. Members of the club, who support the professional San Lorenzo de Almagro team, are known as the Cuervos or Crows, named after the black worn by their founder,