Pope Francis: An outsider who will lead with iron strength

Argentina's political discord and economic turmoil have given Pope Francis strength to take on the challenges of reforming the Vatican, according to a former senior aide.

Fr Guillermo Marco, who spent a decade as spokesperson and close confidant of then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, believes that the Pope's life work, style and status as a Vatican outsider make him ideal for the new job.

"The Vatican is a big and problematical court and the new Pope is arriving there as a simple man from the streets of Buenos Aires," Fr Marco told The Daily Telegraph in an interview in his offices at the Pastoral University in the city.

"Here he rides the subway and bus and talks to the people he meets. He is like a small town priest in that way. He is still just Fr Jorge.

"But he is not only an outsider for Rome. He also comes from a country that is always fighting, always in crisis, always funny. That is Argentina. And that makes him very well prepared for the challenges of the Vatican and the troubles of the world." Those challenges are considerable. As well as his pastoral role, he is confronted by the need to overhaul the Vatican administration, combat rampant infighting and tackle the sex abuse and financial scandals that have long undermined the Church.

For those seeking signs about his willingness to make sweeping changes, his record soon after his appointment as archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 offers a strong clue.

As part of a shake-up of the diocese, he appointed six auxiliary bishops, all clergymen well-known and loyal to him. It was, said those who know him, typical of his leadership style - discreet but decisive. "He is like a chess player, very thoughtful and attentive," said Jose Maria Poirier, the editor-in-chief of Criterio, the independent Argentinian Roman Catholic magazine.

"His thought process is that of a political creature. His personality is very complex, he is a man who speaks little and conveys many of his messages in gestures."

Poirier said that the Pope was "not loved" by many fellow Argentine Jesuits after he became head of the order in 1973. Most public criticism has centred on claims that he was complicit in the kidnapping and torture of two anti-regime Jesuit priests during the so-called "Dirty War" waged by the junta that ruled from 1976-83. But those accusations are widely disputed and were not the reason for his unpopularity, said Poirier.

Rather, it was that he imposed his authority with iron discipline, demanded strict obedience and considered himself the sole and perfect interpreter of Jesuit teaching. But the Pope learned from his early mis-steps and has mellowed his leadership style even as he maintained his uncompromising doctrinal conservatism, he said.