Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose to be named after St. Francis of Assisi—"the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation"—when he was elected Pope, and declared that he would "like a church that is poor and that is for the poor."
It was certainly not ironic that he chose to be named after the founder of the Franciscan Order, when Jesuits or Society of Jesus—the religious order that Bergoglio belonged—had another St Francis (Xavier). For, the late Pope's heart always bled for the poor and the marginalised.
While the Beatitudes promised the poor (in heart and wealth) every possible blessing in the afterlife, Bergoglio certainly knew the importance of being there for the poor and doing everything (humanly) possible to uplift them from privation. Bergoglio also knew actions spoke louder than words (and possibly prayers) and that was the reason he chose to be among the poor and marginalised, doing everything possible to help the poor in Buenos Aires.
A few blocks from high-rise towers of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, in stark contrast to these places of lavishness and luxury, stands the slums of the city, known as villas miserias or villas of misery. Substance abuse and addiction, crimes and unemployment add to the existing misery caused by poverty in these villas. It is among the people of the slums that Bergoglio worked to make a difference, to make their lives a teeny bit better.
During his days as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio worked along with the “curas villeros” (slum priests), a group of Catholic priests who dedicated their lives to serving and living among the poor in these villas of misery.
The 'slum priests' moment or Third World priest movement began in the 1960s when a group of priests, who were inspired by Marxist ideology, decided to live and work among the poor in these villas and fight for the rights of the poor.
Bergoglio made sure that as archbishop he did everything possible to aid and inspire the slum priests. He increased the number of priests assigned to this duty and even gave them a new rank.
He was also a regular visitor to these slums. He chose to do away with the pomp and glory that came with the post and chose to take a bus to reach the slums and walk around. He was there for every big festivals. Bergoglio is said to have interacted with the people there as he was one of their own, drinking tea with them, and talking to them about their problems.
“When Bergoglio was here, nobody really gave us any money at all. So he would find bread himself. He would literally go out to the bakeries, get bread, and bring it back to the kids every morning. No one was helping him," a slum priest, Padre Juan Isasmendi, was quoted as saying in a 2016 article appeared in the monthly magazine Sojourners.
Bergoglio, or Pope Francis, left a lasting impact among the people in these slums who remember him fondly and his legacy continues to inspire scores of priests who toil among the men and women of the slums of Buenos Aires.
"I'd say that over the 15 years he's been walking down the streets here, at least half of the people have met him at some time and have a picture with him, meaning at least 25,000 people in this villa alone," Juan Isasmendi, another priest who worked among the poor in the slum, was quoted as saying in a 2013 piece in National Catholic Reporter.