Pope Francis

Pope Francis (Jorge (pronounced hor-hey)), Mario, Regina, Doctor, Jesuits (Orlando, Franz), Government soldiers (2) , Guerrillas (2), Dictator Videla, Enrique Merlot, poor people (2), Cardinals (2), Pope Benedict (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger)

Usually Saint of the Week is reserved for canonized saints, which means they have to be dead, live lives of heroic virtue, and perform 2 miracles even after they are dead.  However, in light of the recent papal election, I thought we should do one on Pope Francis.

There once was a man named Mario, who worked on the railroad in Argentina.  All day he would pound stakes into the ground, while singing "I've been working on the railroad, all the live long day!" 

One day when he arrived home from work, his wife, Regina, greeted him with a big hug and a kiss.  She said "Mario!  We had another baby!  I named him Jorge!"

Mario wiped a tear from his eye, saying "I love that name!"

As Jorge grew up, he was very intelligent.  But when he was a teenager, he got sick with a bad cough.  The doctor came, and listened to his chest.  Jorge wheezed as he breathed.  The doctor shook his head and said to Jorge's parents "I'm afraid I am going to have to remove a lung."  Then the doctor pulled out a knife, cut Jorge open, and removed his lung, and sewed him back up.

"Thank you doctor-  I feel much better now!"  Jorge said.

Jorge went on to become a priest with the Jesuits, and ended up in charge of the Jesuits.  The Jesuits promised to obey Jorge no matter what.

But war broke out in Argentina.  Government Soldiers, under the command of Dictator Vidella, fought against Guerrilla warriors.  The Guerrillas  beat their chests, hooted and screeched, scratched their armpits, and threw bananas, until finally Enrique Merlo said "no, not Gorillas!  G-air-ril-las.  Revolutionaries!  We fight for the poor!"

The guerrillas cheered!

But one by one the government started arresting them.  2 Jesuits, Orlando and Franz, were among those arrested, because they worked with the poor in the slums. (Guerrillas, Enrique Merlot, Jorge, poor leave the stage.)

The soldiers tortured Orlando and Franz, by tickling them like crazy.  Orlando and Franz begged for mercy.  Orlando said "please, we are not Guerrillas, we are priests, who care for the poor!"

Franz said "Please, I have a weak bladder!"

Jorge came and met secretly with Vidella, and they whispered back and forth.  Finally Vidella told his soldiers 'Let them go.'

But when Orlando was released, he didn't know that Jorge had helped him, so he pointed an accusing finger at Jorge saying "You could have helped me!"

Jorge continued secretly helping the poor.  He hid them when soldiers came by, and even gave one of them his papers so he could escape from Argentina.

Eventually, Jorge was made Bishop, then Archbishop, then Cardinal. But even though he was so important in the Church, he still lived near and visited with the poor.

When Pope John Paul II died,  The cardinals met to pick the next pope.  One Cardinal said  "I think Ratzinger should be Pope!"

Another Cardinal said "I think Jorge should be pope!"

Jorge began to cry and said "Please, I don't want to be pope!  I just want to serve the poor!"

So the Cardinals agreed, and Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI.

But then Pope Benedict said "I'm too old.  I'm going to retire."

So the Cardinals picked Jorge, who said "Ok.  I will choose the name Francis, after Francis of Assisi, to show how important it is to love and care for the poor!"

Pope Francis was made Pope on March 13, 2013.