1

Sean Belamide

Professor Greg Poff

COMM 001

Informative Speech

Pope Francis is a Pope of many firsts and a Pope that proposes and believes in

controversial topics. He is the first Jesuit to become a Pope and he is one of the first Popes that

support gay marriage. This speech will have a brief biography of Pope Francis’s life, his rise to

the Papacy, his progressive mindset, and the different stances he has taken on controversial

topics.

All Popes are figures of power and speech, yet Pope Francis is loved by people from all

walks of life, making him one of the most influential leaders in the world. His progressive

thinking has brought about many controversial topics like the Creation Story and how the Church

handles same-sex marriage. Speaking of same-sex marriage, last month Pope Francis made a

statement regarding whether or not priests can bless gay and lesbian marriages. Parts of this

statement and the perspective of different people can be found on the Washington Post website,

by Chico Harlan and Sarah Pulliam Balley.

According to Biography.com and Wikipedia, Pope Francis was born in Argentina, yet he

comes of Italian descent. His parents decided to migrate to Argentina where Pope Francis was

born in the town of Aires, Argentina in the year 1936. Before he became a priest Pope Francis’s

name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio and as a young man he took up many different jobs, some of

those jobs were janitorial work, bouncer, and chemical technician. He also taught literature and

psychology at the Immaculate Conception College in Santa Fé. While he was out living his life
however he wanted, Pope Francis got what those in religion called “The Calling”. When he got

the call he followed and attended the seminary until he was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1969 and

then consecrated as the titular Bishop of Auca and auxiliary of Buenos Aires in 1992. Then in

1998, he was made Archbishop of Buenos Aires and in 2001 elevated to Cardinal by Pope John

Paul the Ⅱ. Finally, Pope Francis was elected Pope in 2013 after Pope Benedict ⅩⅤⅠ

resigned. With his brief biography over, let’s move on to why all people so love Pope Francis

At the beginning of his Papacy, Pope Francis showed that he didn’t let his title give him

an inflated sense of importance. Soon after he was elected Pope he left to pay the bill at a hotel

that he was staying at in person as opposed to sending a secretary to go do it. Before he left to

pay his bill, Pope Francis made a speech thanking his fellow Cardinals for accepting him, a

Jesuit from a land far away from the Vatican, as the Pope and new leader of the Roman Catholic

Church. Another choice that exemplified his humble nature was choosing to live in the guest

house instead of living in the Apostolic Palace. My favorite moment of Pope Francis showing

kindness was when he was talking and answering people’s questions, one of the people was a

young boy named Emanuele. Emanuele told Pope Francis that his father had recently died, but

was an atheist and was wondering if his father would go to Heaven. Pope Francis told him,

“God is the one who decides who goes to Heaven.” with that Pope Francis assured Emanuele,

who had broken down sobbing, that his father would be accepted into Heaven with open arms.

Pope Francis’s influence brought many people back into the Catholic Church using his

progressive thinking and open-mindedness.

Pope Francis has been the most welcoming Pope to gay people in a very long time, so

when his statement on how priests cannot bless gay marriages shocked quite a few people. One
of the defining statements he made early as Pope was “Who am I to judge?” when posed with the

question of whether or not he supported gay people and gay marriage. So many people

questioned why Pope Francis was flip-flopping around on his opinion of gay marriage. When

you look deep into the matter, it seems that Pope Francis has taken a welcoming stance toward

gay people and gay marriages while still upholding the Church’s ancient rules against same-sex

marriage. Even as controversial as it is, Pope Francis’s stance on how life started in this universe

is almost as equally confusing as it is shocking. When asked about how life began, Pope Francis

believes that there was a Big Bang and that the Big Bang was created by God. His statement

was, “God is not a divine being or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life,",

and another statement he made, "Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of

creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.". His belief in the Big

Bang is controversial because Catholics are supposed to believe in the Creation Story where God

created all life in seven days.

Pope Francis is a man of humility and controversy, with his influence spreading far out

and even touching those who do not believe. His rise to Papacy and controversial stances have

shown that anyone can have a positive influence on the world. This is my informative speech

on Pope Francis.