Reflection on the death of Pope Francis
Francis Park Mun-su
I was born Francis X. Buchmeier, Jr. in Minnesota, U.S. I came to Korea in 1969, sent as a missionary to Korea by the Society of Jesus, of which I am a member. I was ordained a priest in 1973 in Korea, and in 1985, I was granted Korean citizenship, losing my U.S. citizenship. The Society of Jesus, respecting my new citizenship, officially changed my name to my Korean citizenship name of Park Mun-su. There are many Korean Americans in the U.S., some of them famous persons. I am, if you will, one of a small number of ‘American Koreans.’ I offer my own subjective reflections on Pope Francis from the perspective of my personal history.
Pope Francis has been outspoken in defending the rights of the poor, minorities, migrants, and all those who are marginalized by their societies or by international policies. His strong promotion of the rights of the poor has helped me confirm my own experience of replacing American patriotism with a commitment to justice and human rights. During the civil rights movement in the 1960s, my American patriotism was diminished when I learned that one of the founding fathers and 3rd president of the U.S., Thomas Jefferson, maintained African slaves and held a very prejudiced view of African Americans. More recently, I have been shocked and angered to learn that when Henry Kissinger was secretary of state of the U.S., in 1976 he encouraged the Argentine government to quickly carry out its program of capturing and torturing members of leftist groups (so-called ‘disappearing’ them) before the U.S. Congress would take harsher action against other nations’ human rights abuses.
The 'dirty war' in Argentina
The so-called "dirty war" in Argentina (1976 to 1983) was a painful experience for the future Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., who was provincial of the Argentine Jesuits from 1973 to 1979. A Jesuit provincial has responsibility for the mission of a province and for the personal care of the province members, who would number between 150 and 500 members. In 1975, the Society of Jesus concluded its 32nd General Congregation in which it proclaimed its overall mission to be “the service of faith and the promotion of justice.” Subsequently, many Jesuits in Latin America and elsewhere suffered imprisonment and even murder for their advocacy for the poor or other marginalized groups. During Bergoglio’s provincialate two Jesuits working among the poor were kidnapped and imprisoned for nine months by the Argentine government. Pope Francis has recalled how that was a very painful time for him.
Pope Francis: 'I did what I felt I had to do'
I have often felt a pain in my heart reading Pope Francis’s exhortations and encyclical letters. He shares the pain in his heart even while teaching the joy and hope of the Gospel. In the first major exhortation of his pontificate, Evangelii Gaudium, he wrote (paragraph 49): “Here I repeat for the entire Church what I have often said to the priests and laity of Buenos Aires: I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” I personally saw many Christians ‘out on the streets’ in Korea “bruised, hurting and dirty” along with evictees, when Christians joined the evictees’ struggle for housing rights during the time (1980s, 1990s) of the cruel urban redevelopment projects in Seoul and other cities of South Korea.
Pope Francis acted out his own words about preferring a Church out on the streets when he visited South Korea in 2014. The bereaved families of the victims of the Sewol ferry sinking had become street protesters because the Park Geun-hye government had been obstructing investigations into the cause of the accident, and the police had been using tear gas and beating them for their protests, an example of “blaming the victim.” The Vatican had agreed to an itinerary worked out with the Park Geun-hye government which didn’t include meeting with members of the bereaved families of the Sewol tragedy. Nevertheless, Pope Francis suddenly interrupted his route and met there on the street with the father of one of the victims. The Hankyoreh Newspaper English version recounts that father’s tearful reaction to the death of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis remembered in Korea
Personally, I feel deep gratitude to Pope Francis for showing compassion to the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry victims. He not only made Christ’s teaching come to life but also inserted compassion into the politics of South Korea.
During the same visit to Korea, Pope Francis made an unscheduled visit to the Jesuits of Korea. It was a joyful occasion. Near the end, he suddenly paused, and his voice softened as he pleaded, “Please pray for me. I really need prayers.” His humble and sorrowful facial expression moved me deeply.
Pope Francis has remarked many times over the past five or six years that the world is presently experiencing World War III, saying that although the killing is scattered in several places around the world the causes and conditions make the killing and displacement a world war. Pope Francis is truly a great prophet for our time.
When I applied for Korean citizenship in 1985 a prosecutor assigned to interview me asked me if I would be willing to help defend the Republic of Korea if it were attacked. I said I would be willing. I think that this duty as a citizen also allows me to hope for a complete end to the Korean War and the unification of the country. I am thankful to Pope Francis for stating his willingness to visit North Korea to help pursue the goal of peace. Pope Francis died while actively serving the people. I pray that his successor will have the same compassion for people divided by war and the same willingness and charism to overcome the confinement that can easily surround the pope and the Vatican.
Rev. Francis Park Mun-su is a retired priest of the Society of Jesus in the Catholic Church and formerly taught sociology at Sogang University, where he also had a term as chairman of the board of directors. He also served in the ministry to the poor in the Archdiocese of Seoul.