Pope Francis, Caravaggio and being caught up in the Spirit
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Beyond both serving in the Jesuit religious order, Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, said he felt a certain kinship with Pope Francis in their shared love for the late 16th century Italian Renaissance painter Michaelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.
“I was delighted to learn, in those early interviews, of Pope Francis’ love for Caravaggio,” Fr. Hendrickson said of when Francis – the first Jesuit and Latin American pope – was elected on March 13, 2013.
At Mass on Saturday, April 26, at St. John’s Church on Creighton’s Omaha campus, Fr. Hendrickson remembered Pope Francis during his homily – praising the pope for his candor, humility and connection to all people, especially the poor.
Fr. Hendrickson recalled traveling to Rome as a graduate student in 2010 to tour the dicasteries of the Roman Curia – the departments responsible for the governance and administration of the Catholic Church worldwide – under Pope Benedict.
In his free time, he spent time exploring the city’s piazzas.
“I enjoyed the art and the architecture and the cuisine,” Fr. Hendrickson said. “And I fell in love with a painter, Caravaggio.”
He was especially struck by Caravaggio’s “Madonna di Loreto,” which he found in a backside chapel at the Church of Saint Augustine.
“It is a depiction of Mary in very ordinary dress, as if she’s a peasant,” Fr. Hendrickson said, “and she’s holding the baby Jesus, who is also simpler than in ordinary artistic expressions.”
Kneeling before them in adoration are two individuals – lowly and destitute.
“It’s thought that Caravaggio had depicted the patrons, the commissioners of the painting, as those peasants,” Fr. Hendrickson said, “and he was trying to teach us something different about reverencing Jesus, about understanding Mary and her life, and about access to Jesus.”
Here at Creighton University, we yearn that our students become caught up in this Spirit, because when they do, that’s how they become agents of change in the world.
— Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD
In a New York Times article, Pope Francis said his favorite Caravaggio painting was “The Calling of Saint Matthew.”
“It’s Jesus calling this tax collector, Matthew, the most despicable of workers, into his inner circle of friendship and discipleship, and of course, later, apostleship,” Fr. Hendrickson said. “Francis likened that over the years to his sense of ministry, and then later to a sense of being pope.”
Caravaggio, Fr. Hendrickson said, was a nonconformist who conveyed a naturalism and realism, whose work depicted the rawness of life. “His paintings weren’t sublime but outspoken, sending a message,” Fr. Hendrickson said.
He said Pope Francis, in a similar way, stood for those on the margins and wasn’t afraid to speak out against injustice – even within the Catholic Church, including sexual and other abuses of power by Catholic priests. He stood against climate change, and in his groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si’, rallied all people to care for our common home. And, like Caravaggio, he focused on the poor and the marginalized.
Fr. Hendrickson said the Easter message is one of hope that speaks to the wonders and signs that God is still at work in the world around us.
“Francis was part of God’s work in the world around us, and he, too, showed us signs,” Fr. Hendrickson – living simply, espousing humility, befriending the poor, challenging norms, living with great infirmities, and so much more.
In Revelation, St. John writes that he was “caught up in the Spirit.” The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Fr. Hendrickson said, can help us continue to get caught up in the Spirit – offering opportunities to recognize grace at work in the world and then respond to it.
“Here at Creighton University, we yearn that our students become caught up in this Spirit, because when they do, that’s how they become agents of change in the world,” Fr. Hendrickson said. “I just spent Easter Week in Africa visiting projects of the University in refugee camps. I was caught up in the Spirit, meeting our refugee students and our colleagues.
“Francis was caught up in the Spirit. We saw it, and we felt it.”
Fr. Hendrickson said he and his twin brother, Scott, also a Jesuit priest, met Pope Francis in 2022. Fr. Hendrickson tells the story:
“We approached Pope Francis, and Scott said, ‘Holy Father, we’re two American Jesuits.’ And without blinking, Francis said, ‘That’s not my problem.’ We just laughed, and then we said, quite quickly, ‘We’re also identical twins, Pope Francis.’ And then he said, just as quickly, ‘I don’t have a cure for you.’”
“With Francis, so many of us were caught up in the Spirit.”
