Pope tells Jesuits in Africa he twice refused to become a bishop

Pope Francis told Jesuits working in Congo that he had taken seriously the promise he and all Jesuits make to not seek offices of authority and power in the church and, in fact, he twice declined becoming a bishop.

But, he said, in May 1992 he accepted his appointment as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, because the nuncio presented him with a letter from the Jesuit superior general saying he could accept.

"When I made that vow, I meant it," the pope said.

Francis met with Jesuits in Congo and in South Sudan and responded to their questions during his visit to the two countries Jan. 31-Feb. 5. The Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, which publishes transcripts of Francis' meetings with Jesuits abroad, released the texts of the Africa meetings Feb. 16.

Asked by a fellow Jesuit why he accepted becoming a bishop in Argentina when he had made the promise, the pope said he had declined when asked to become bishop of San Miguel and again when asked to become bishop of a diocese in the northern province of Corrientes.

"The papal nuncio, to encourage me to accept, told me that there were the ruins of the Jesuit past there," the pope told the Jesuits in Congo Feb. 2. "I replied that I did not want to be the guardian of ruins, and I refused."

When he accepted the appointment to Buenos Aires, he said, he did so "in a spirit of obedience."

Now that he is pope and makes those appointments, Francis said his preference is to choose someone who is not a Jesuit, but the greater good of the church always prevails.

With the papal trip to Africa coming soon after the revelation that Francis had long ago prepared a letter of resignation in case he became too ill or infirm to carry out the duties of the papacy, one of the Congolese Jesuits asked him if he really was planning on stepping down.