POPE FRANCIS will be “flexible, accessible and approachable” as the leader of the Catholic Church, according to George von Waidkuns-Velazquez, a former student of the Pope’s.
George von Waidkuns-Velazquez spent almost two years at the Collegio Maximo San Jose in San Miguel, a Jesuit seminary in Argentina, in the 1980s where he was taught pastoral theology and humanities by Jorge Bergoglio.
Although he eventually realised his vocation was not to be a priest, he remembers the Jesuit priest and lecturer fondly.
“Everybody loved him,” he said.
“He wasn’t a hard marker, but he always said to us ‘I’m not here to judge you, but if you get part of my message and you serve God because of that, I’ll be satisfied and I will pass you’.”
Bergoglio was rector of the College during Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez’s time, yet his former pupil said there were no airs or graces about the man.
“He had quite a neat office in a small room,” he explained.
“As the director, he could have had the big upper room … but he was living with all the students like anyone else.”
As the rector, Bergoglio was firm and authoritative when he needed to be.
“He’s not a soft-hearted man at all,” Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez said.
“When he wanted to be respected he would tell you in a very straightforward way … He’s not an angry man at all, but when he needs to be hard, he will be.”
Now a legal consultant in Perth after moving to Australia 15 years ago, Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez said Bergoglio exemplified a great humility some 30 years before he was elected as Pope.
“You could see that he may be taken for granted because of his humility,” he said.
“But it’s the reason Cardinal Quarracino made Bergoglio a Cardinal – because of his extraordinary humility and modesty.”
When asked if his former teacher showed any clear signs of holiness three decades ago, Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez responded quickly, “No, not really”.
“He was just another priest, another person,” he explained.
“Looking back in my mind, I would say he was a bit of a nerd.
“He always had one or two books with him. He was reading about three books a week, he’s a very well-read man.”
Bergoglio was a quiet man who minded his own business and fulfilled his teaching and priestly duties at the College with minimal fuss.
“I remember we were getting to class once and he was finishing his breviary in a corner alone,” Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez said.
One of about ten lecturers at the college, Bergoglio had a good sense of humour, a love of poetry, and was popular among the students studying for the priesthood.
“He was approachable all the time … you could interrupt him, you could ask him if he had a minute after class, everybody could see him any time,” Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez said.
By 1986, both teacher and pupil had moved on from the Collegio Maximo San Jose but, serving as an acolyte at Buenos Aires Cathedral, Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez followed the progress of his teacher.
As a young man, Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez went with Bergoglio to an Argentinian jail for midnight Mass one Christmas.
“He loved that … he always had a commitment to the poor, the disadvantaged, and to social justice,” he said.
“Commonsense, understanding, compassion – he was developing those qualities in those days, he was such a simple person.”
In 1992, Fr Bergoglio became an Auxiliary Bishop and, in 2001, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the rank of Cardinal.
His election to the papacy in March this year provided immense joy for Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez.
“I received a call at three o’clock in the morning from a priest friend of mine from the Cathedral at Buenos Aires, and he said, ‘Do you know what? Jorge’s Pope!’” he recalled.
“I was so happy. I was jumping for joy, because it’s the best thing that could happen to the Church.”
As a seminary lecturer, Bergoglio’s teaching method reflects the way he will go about his business as the Bishop of Rome, Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez said.
“His teaching was simple and practical,” he said.
“He’s not a person who will give you a deep theological message; if he does, it is always connected with some practical examples in society or in our lives.
“And he was very creative in bringing secular people into his examples, like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King.”
During his time at the Collegio Maximo San Jose as a 19 year old, Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez said the Jesuits were clearly divided between conservatives and liberation theologians.
“[Bergoglio] was right in the middle all the time, he was teaching us the good and the bad of both sides … he was always a balanced guy,” he said.
As Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio has already demonstrated a distaste for hierarchical authority, and this was evident during his time as a Bishop in Argentina.
“I remember once he was celebrating Mass and I was about to kiss his ring and he pulled his hand away and looked at me like he was a bit annoyed,” Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez recalled.
The event is fresh in the Perth lawyer’s memory, and has helped him to form a solid picture of what Pope Francis’ papacy will be like.
“He thinks of the Church as a hospital,” he said.
“You can go there for a check-up, you can go there for healing … but it’s not an army, where you are training all the time, receiving orders and instructions.”
One of Pope Francis’ strengths is that he is an excellent, efficient administrator who will put the Church in order, according to Mr von Waidkuns-Velazquez.
“He will delegate discretionary powers to different Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals around the world,” he said.
“We have a hierarchy that is very strict at the moment and he will be flexible with that to allow lay people participation in the decisions of the Church.”
Liturgically, Mr von Wiadkuns-Velazquez expects Pope Francis to continue to be “solemn” in his celebration of the Mass.
“He loves a correct liturgy according to the Second Vatican Council, but he will allow other Bishops to be flexible about that,” he said.
“I think he will allow local vernacular music and style, without much solemnity … he especially loves the African Missa Luba.”