Among the Jesuits, mourning between modesty and recognition

That morning, when the news of the death of Pope Francis has just fallen, the small Christian community gathered at the Jesuit spiritual center of Manre, in the west of Paris, did not change anything to its habits. Admittedly, the man was mentioned in the Memento of the deceased of the mass of the day. But nothing else was undertaken so as not to disturb the dynamics of the current spiritual pensions. No portrait in the church, no specific proposal for the on -site retreaters who would have needed to express their feelings.

This Jesuit discretion and modesty is assumed in these host houses or in the diversity of communities of men and women of the religious family. And perhaps especially in the countries of the northern hemisphere, where the expression of simple emotions are not necessarily natural among educators, teachers and accompanying people. But, it is probably not the same in the Jesuit communities of the southern hemisphere. In South America, for example, we know how to combine the joyful banter of Italian migrants as a person with the emotional proximity of Hispanic, Lusophone and Andean populations. Pope Francis has often expressed it himself.

This difference in culture undoubtedly also explains a sometimes distant relationship of certain religious with their colleague Pope. Admittedly, the latter has always wanted to welcome them to Rome or visit them to the countries where he went. But without giving the impression of favoring them in his decisions or choices either. It must be said that the already long history of the Company of Jesus also invites a certain discretion, as he has been criticized in the past his capacity for influence in religious and political events around the world. To the point that the superior general of the Jesuits was long nicknamed, by his detractors, as being a “black pope”.

A slow appropriation of the figure of François

On April 21, 2025, a few hours after the announcement of the death of the Jesuit Pope, the Congregation officials paid tribute to him during a press conference organized in Rome. Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Company of Jesus for nine years and himself Venezuelle, underlined the freedom of Pope Francis who did not try to please everyone. According to him, the important thing for this Jesuit religious who became Pope was “to listen to himself, to dialogue with the complexity of reality, to scrutinize the signs of times and, in prayer, in the familiarity with his Lord, to discern what is most appropriate at every moment”.

The fact remains that, in communities, as in any congregation, the reputation of a religious often precedes you almost everywhere. It was not surprising to hear over conversations with a theologian or a Jesuit religious, that the liabilities of the Argentine Jesuit provincial that was Bergoglio still stuck to his skin like Pope. He would thus be authoritarian, abrupt and lonely in his decisions. Father Xavier de Bénazé remembers how, when he was still only a novice, someone in his community was questioned during the 2013 conclave if there was a Jesuit cardinal in the assembly of voters. One of the old fathers exclaimed: “Ah yes, there is an Argentinian. I no longer know his name. But he is conservative and authoritarian, of what I heard. Enough to leave a doubt about what he was going to do once elected.

But quickly, the first public gestures and the simple style and close to the Pope’s people in the Franciscan name reassured each other. “To the point that sometimes (less perhaps in recent years, probably by habit) I found that in some companions it could tend to a slight form of” papolatry “. In any case, big fans of Pope Francis, certainly, ”continues Xavier de Bénazé. After twelve years of pontificate, things were clear: “” brother “,” companion “,” inspiring “,” free “and” communion “would thus be the words that would be better with the perception of François in the company”, concludes the religious, whose commitment to the spiritual center of the Châtelard, as a place of integral ecology, is a direct fruit of the calls of Pope Francis.

Father Manuel Grandin, who recently lived in South America, confirms it: “I had heard expressions evoking the injuries of his time as provincial. But in the vast majority, the Jesuits and the relatives of the Company of Jesus were in enthusiasm for this pope. And it is this same echo that I heard in France. I understood that the limits he showed during his provincial, when he was still young, helped him to improve, to improve; Without changing it completely, of course. But it is also his Franciscan sensitivity which, paradoxically, changed the perception of the character, stressing his pastoral sensitivity and his obvious proximity with the poorest. “This is how I perceive his encyclical Laudato if ‘which is still today a formidable impulse far beyond the church. It is the fruit of her personal commitment, based on personal conversion. And his desire for a “poor church for the poor” comes directly from South America, where the church is with the poor. He pushed this intuition as a mission for the Universal Church. »»

For Father Vincent Lasceve, a 48 -year -old Jesuit, stationed in Lille (North), it is the presence in the popular world which thus gives him a natural proximity to the Argentinian Pope. “I am currently in pastoral care in the popular district of Moulins, where I founded with volunteers an associative school for unaccompanied minors. It is called the Fraternity School and is directly inspired by the Fratelli Tutti encyclical. Passed by Africa and South America, the Jesuit wanted to know more about his brother Pope.

“In Buenos Aires, I wanted to know more about the archbishop that had been papabile In 2005 and that was said to be austere and close to the poor. It made him interesting. I had read that there had been tensions in his provincial province of his provincial and that he did not leave anyone indifferent. I especially heard of a Jesuit that he was a good bishop, loved by his people and I kept this information. It was really in 2013 that I discovered Pope Francis. It was three years before his diaconal ordination. “I can say that it was he who trained me at the homily!” I also kept a whole stock of homilies in Sainte-Marthe which were translated daily into Spanish from a recording. François had the gift of touching the heart in a simple way. »»

During a stay in Bogota in 2016, he was able to check in the basic communities how appreciated Pope Francis was. And he himself recognizes that his Jesuit formation was deeply marked by the Bergoglian accents. Just like its current mission in a parish in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis). “I believe that I became the Jesuit that I am, with taste for pastoral care in a popular environment thanks to his inspiration and his example. “And thus,” we must not negatively interpret the sobriety of our mourning. She is in the DNA of the company. We were able to realize it with François. The description of François’ grave in his will made me think of that of Father Arrupe in the Gèsu church in Rome. During his election too, we were sober! I remember that we were happy, on a little cloud, but hesitated to manifest our joy so as not to appear proud. From the election, we understood that having a Jesuit pope was a grace that called us for humility and service. »»