Papa Paco Preaching Patience

By Edmund Lo, S.J.

During the past academic semester at Campion College in Regina, I gave a course on Jesuit history. When Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis last month, I knew that I needed to make some modifications to my course. History was being made; a Jesuit was made a Pope. Given that he spent much of his life in Argentina, his works and thoughts are not well known to the English-speaking world. In fact, books about him are just being translated and put on the the shelves of bookstores. I, however, had neither the time nor patience for this, as my course was ending in early –in April; so I changed directions and looked for his books in Spanish.

Eventually, I got my hands on a book called El Papa Francisco: Conversaciones con Jorge Bergoglio, which is based on interviews that he gave to journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti. It is not my intention to give a review of this book, and I invite you to read it yourself when its English translation comes out. Here, I would like to simply talk about a concept that he frequently mentions, called transitar la paciencia, or transitar en paciencia.

Laundering Patience

By Eric Hanna, S.J.

Buildings in most equatorial countries have a greater degree of integration between inside and out than do buildings in colder climes. There's no need to keep out the snow or the cold, so large indoor gardens, living rooms half in- and half out-side are standard. This means that individual rooms of the house need a higher level of security because they are completely accessible from outside. So heavy bars, multiple locks, and small windows are also common.