Pope Francis:
An Effective Leader in a Multicultural Society
Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires,
Argentina to Italian immigrant parents. According to Biography.com, he initially trained as a chemist and has taught literature, philosophy, psychology and theology. Before being elected pope, Bergoglio was a Jesuit from 1960-1992. He served the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires from
1998 until 2013 and also served as cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina from
2001 to 2013. Bergoglio was the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina from
2005 until 2011. Biography.com also states that Pope Francis was named the 266th pope of the Roman
Catholic Church on March 13, 2013. He …show more content…
He has been an advocate for the environment and a political diplomat. The Roman Catholic Church The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest Christian group
in the world with over 1.2 billion members. The church’s structure is hierarchical and the
cardinals that reside in Rome run its government and concern themselves with only matters of
great importance to the church. The Church is divided into dioceses that are overseen by bishops
and archbishops. The pope names the bishops and controls them mostly by general legislation.
Dioceses are divided into parishes, which are under the care of a priest. Servant Leadership
Pope Francis’ leadership philosophy extends in the same direction as servant leadership.
According to Northouse (2013), the servant leader places others’ needs before their own. They help others realize their full potential and abilities. Servant leaders feel a calling to assist and attend to others and see sincerity and honesty as highly important. Similar to the beliefs of Pope
Francis, “the servant leader is a servant first.” (McEllin, 2013) According to McEllin (2013), at his inaugural mass as the leader of over 1.2 …show more content…
An Effective Multicultural Leader
Northouse (2013), explains multicultural leadership as an approach that takes
into consideration more than one culture. It also states that this can include subcultures that are
defined by someone’s race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age. Juana Bordas, author of
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age, as cited by Hastings (2007), states
that there are eight ways to practice multicultural leadership. Pope Francis has shown us
examples of many of these.
The first way is by thinking in terms of We, not I. According to Povoledo (2013), Pope
Francis has asked the ambassadors of the 180 countries accredited with the Holy See to work
together with him toward fighting poverty, building peace and establishing friendship between
all people. He expressed that they should not let the differences between believers and non
believers come between them as well and to keep an open dialogue with the countries not tied to
the Holy See. The second way is by practicing generosity and not greed. According to Bordas, as cited
by Hastings (2007), this includes being generous with your time and showing concern for
An Effective Leader in a Multicultural Society
Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires,
Argentina to Italian immigrant parents. According to Biography.com, he initially trained as a chemist and has taught literature, philosophy, psychology and theology. Before being elected pope, Bergoglio was a Jesuit from 1960-1992. He served the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires from
1998 until 2013 and also served as cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina from
2001 to 2013. Bergoglio was the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina from
2005 until 2011. Biography.com also states that Pope Francis was named the 266th pope of the Roman
Catholic Church on March 13, 2013. He …show more content…
He has been an advocate for the environment and a political diplomat. The Roman Catholic Church The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest Christian group
in the world with over 1.2 billion members. The church’s structure is hierarchical and the
cardinals that reside in Rome run its government and concern themselves with only matters of
great importance to the church. The Church is divided into dioceses that are overseen by bishops
and archbishops. The pope names the bishops and controls them mostly by general legislation.
Dioceses are divided into parishes, which are under the care of a priest. Servant Leadership
Pope Francis’ leadership philosophy extends in the same direction as servant leadership.
According to Northouse (2013), the servant leader places others’ needs before their own. They help others realize their full potential and abilities. Servant leaders feel a calling to assist and attend to others and see sincerity and honesty as highly important. Similar to the beliefs of Pope
Francis, “the servant leader is a servant first.” (McEllin, 2013) According to McEllin (2013), at his inaugural mass as the leader of over 1.2 …show more content…
An Effective Multicultural Leader
Northouse (2013), explains multicultural leadership as an approach that takes
into consideration more than one culture. It also states that this can include subcultures that are
defined by someone’s race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age. Juana Bordas, author of
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age, as cited by Hastings (2007), states
that there are eight ways to practice multicultural leadership. Pope Francis has shown us
examples of many of these.
The first way is by thinking in terms of We, not I. According to Povoledo (2013), Pope
Francis has asked the ambassadors of the 180 countries accredited with the Holy See to work
together with him toward fighting poverty, building peace and establishing friendship between
all people. He expressed that they should not let the differences between believers and non
believers come between them as well and to keep an open dialogue with the countries not tied to
the Holy See. The second way is by practicing generosity and not greed. According to Bordas, as cited
by Hastings (2007), this includes being generous with your time and showing concern for