Pope Francis and bureaucracy

Live streams of the first public footage of the newly chosen pope, Jorge Bergolio, Pope Francis, depicted him the down-to-earth person written about by journalists. A man of simplicity and modesty, Jorge Bergoglio took public transport back to his lodgings after he was chosen the next pope on 13 March 2013. He has sought  not to compromise his commitment to a life of poverty and he recently arrived for his summer holiday in a ‘beat-up’ old Ford Fiesta. The BMW X5 of his predecessor is seen nowhere. His wish to connect with ordinary people is still strong. When on 30 November 2013, the first Sunday of Advent, a live stream showed him cocooned in full regalia and surrounded by, and isolated by, a coterie of private chaplains and assorted assistants and when the list of his public engagements was noted, two thoughts came to mind. The first was the statement by King Philip II, 1556-98 (quoted by J.H. Elliott Imperial Spain 1469-1716) that his life as King ‘was little little more than servitude to the people of Spain’. The second thought was the work of Max Weber on the form, operation and power of bureaucracy. There is an illuminating page on the theme in Wikipedia with concise comment on theories of bureaucracy by Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Robert Merton and Max Weber among others. Bureaucracy is a feature of every society, east and west, a global theme.

Contributor Geoff Williams. Sempringham eLearning Office