Pectoral Cross of Pope Francis
Represents the "Thief in All of Us"
The story of the Cross of Pope Francis is very recent. Before he was elected Pope, he was known as Archbishop Bergoglio, and lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When one of his elders died, Bergoglio went to pay his last respects and saw a Rosary being held by the dead man in his coffin. He wanted the Cross that was attached to the Rosary so he pulled it off to keep it and rationalized that the cross represented the “thief in all of us.” He wore the cross every day and noted “When I have a bad thought about someone, my hand goes there.” The Cross does not depict Jesus and instead represents a shepherd looking after his flock. Above the flock of lambs is the Holy Spirit. When Bergoglio was elected Pope, an Italian craftsman, Giuseppe Ablrizzi, was astonished to see that the Cross he designed, also known as “The Good Shepard Cross,” was the Cross the Pope had chosen to wear, rejecting the traditional ornate gold crosses customized for Popes. The Good Shepard Cross is becoming extremely popular and is now often called “Pope Papi’s Cross.”