Who is Pope Francis?

Photo courtesy of Holy Family, St. Louis Park, MN

Background:  This lesson is timely for today's Catholic culture.  Children should pray for and support our new Pope by learning about him.  Clear, child friendly information regarding the Pope was written at Our Sunday Visitor .

Materials:  Our Sunday Visitor; For the Children; We Have a Pope; Jesus our Life (Faith and Life Series Grade 2) from Ignatius Press*; posterboard (one per group); markers; crayons; pencils; and notebook paper.

Objective:  To recognize and explore our new Pope's life and his calling to the Catholic church.    To cooperate in a group setting to create a poster about Pope Francis.

Procedure:  Begin by reviewing knowledge about Popes.  These main points are found in the curricula and children's literature suggested in "materials."

• Peter was an apostle who taught people about Jesus. Jesus made him the head of His Church on earth.  His title became "The first Pope of our Catholic Church."
• Today the Pope has Peter's job and he is the leader of Catholics.  
• The Pope and Bishops teach us about the Bible and tell us how to lead good lives.  Catholic leaders make rules about the Mass and sacraments.  If Catholic lay people made up the rules, we might have different ideas about what is right and wrong, so it is important to learn what Jesus wants us to know through the Church leaders.
• The Church is like a body and without followers like us, bishops, priests, deacons, sisters, and the Pope the body would suffer.

Next, discuss our new pastor of the Church, Pope Francis.  Allow time for discussion about what the children have learned recently.  Are the children's conceptions of the news correct?  The following are focal points regarding Pope Francis. Older children should take notes.

• Our new Pope's name is Pope Francis.  He chose that name because he wants to be a Pope for the poor and for peace.  Saint Francis of Assissi was known for loving the poor and being peaceful.
• Before he came to Rome, he lived in Buenos Airies, Argentina (show Argenitina on map).  Since 1998 he has been the archbishop of Buenos Airies.  
• His name before he became Pope Francis was Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
• He is 76 years old.  What year was his birth?
• His ordination was in 1969 (He became a priest then).
• There are a lot of firsts connected with Pope Francis.  He is the first Latin American Pope.  He is the first Jesuit priest to become a Pope.  Since 731 there has not been a pope that came from outside of Europe.  Wow!
• Almost half of Catholics are from Latin America so they are very excited to have Pope Francis become our Pope.

Group Assignment:  Assign jobs to each group.  Homeschools will have one group or create with Mom.  A "runner" gets information resources, notebook paper, posterboard, pencils, crayons and markers.  A "recorder" writes a rough draft of what the posterboard will look like.  A "leader" makes the final decision about what should be recorded.  Work as a group to produce the final copy.  A"publisher" reads the end project out loud.

Hand out materials and assign a rough draft paragraph with a topic sentence introducing our new Pope or describing what a Pope does for the Catholic church.  Then, write three sentences about Pope Francis.  Finally, write a concluding sentence with an opinion or interesting fact.  Once rough draft has been edited, record the paragraph on posters.  Include a symbol or drawing of our new Pope.  Suggested symbols include, keys crossed (because Jesus gave Peter the keys to His kingdom), a drawing of Italy with a star for Rome, a picture of St. Peter's Bascilica found in the literature below.

Apostle Book Store 952-931-0004

www.catholicheritagecurricula.com

Amazon

Amazon

Have fun!  Throw a Pope party.  Play Latin music and present posters.  A yummy Argenitne treat that may be served is called Pizza a Caballo. Argentine food is influenced by Europe, but adds delicious twists.  Pizza a Caballo (means on horseback in spanish) is topped with peppery flat bread to make a "pizza sandwich."  Although North American flat bread is plainer than South American bread, it will give children an idea of what the Pope might have eaten in his native land.

Evaluation: Assess the children's paragraphs using a  COPS Writing Rubric.  Did the children cooperate in their groups?  Did they learn something about our new Pope they did not know before?

Teacher's Notes:  *Ignatius Press is my choice for faith formation curricula, but if you use different curricula that is approved by the Magisterium with a posted Imprimatur, I'd like to hear other suggestions.  If you are a Catholic educator and know of an excellent children's literature resource about the Pope please leave a comment.