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Pope Francis Has Taught the Church To Thrive Again

5 minute read
Ideas
Hale is a Democratic politician from Tennessee; he has been a Catholic nonprofit executive and helped lead faith outreach for President Barack Obama.

Two years after the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis, the Catholic Church is back.

From the moment he appeared on the loggia of St. Peter’s in a simple white cassock, we knew that Francis was a game changer.

Images immediately went viral of the newly elected Vicar of Christ washing the feet of AIDS patients, riding the bus in Buenos Aires and ministering to God’s people living in the slums. In the two years since, Francis has again and again reminded us of that troublemaker who founded the faith, Jesus of Nazareth. Then again, I guess that’s the point.

Pundits suggested that the Jesuit from Argentina would change his ways to adapt to the papacy. To the contrary, he has stayed the same priest and man of the poor that he always was and instead has transformed both the papacy and the Church.

I’ve experienced this transformation in my own life. Inspired by the Pope’s leadership, I quit my job in politics and took over the leadership of a Catholic organization dedicated to promoting the Church’s social justice agenda in public life.

I’m not alone. There are stories everywhere of young and not-so-young Christians responding in even more radical ways to Francis’s call to spread the joy of knowing Jesus and his great Gospel of justice, peace and mercy.

Why has Francis resonated with his contemporaries? I think there are three reasons:

He leads with mercy. The words from his first Sunday message as the Bishop of Rome still ring in my ears: “God never tires of forgiving us, but we sometimes tire of asking Him to forgive us.

Mercy is God’s most beautiful attribute. And Francis understands during this time of crisis where too many times the Church has failed to communicate God’s unfailing love for us, we must re-present the basic truths of our faith: that we are children of the God. The Lord loves us. Jesus Christ saves us. The Pope cherishes us, and the Church welcomes us.

Some of Francis’s detractors argue that this is soft. Nonsense! This is our faith, and this is the faith of the Church.

He leads with authentic joy. “I cannot imagine,” Pope Francis says, “a Christian who doesn’t know how to smile.” Yet the Pope complains that too many peoples’ lives “seem like Lent without Easter.” He says that we mustn’t always “look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!”

Erich Fromm once offered this critique of modern men and women: “Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain.”

Francis—from his joy of knowing Jesus—cannot be accused of such a thing. When he encounters men and women, you know his smile is real, that his tears are authentic and that his love is inspired.

He leads with humility. Pope Francis says a good priest is someone who is so close to his people that he becomes a“shepherd living with the smell of the sheep.” He has exemplified this ideal in his own pontificate. He rejected the apostolic palace. He washed the feet of Muslim women. He affirmed God’s love for the LGBT community. And the list could go on and on.

But Francis isn’t doing this for publicity. He believes that this outward focus must be the prominent disposition of the entire Christian community: “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”

Paul Rauschenberg said it well some time ago: Pope Francis has made it cool to be Christian again. His pontificate is allowing the world to rediscover the great contribution of faith to culture and civic society.

At the end of World War II, Joseph Stalin once arrogantly asked Winston Churchill: “How many divisions does the Pope have?”

In 2015, we have our answer: The Soviet Union is dead and the Catholic Church is alive.

And with Francis leading the flock, the Church isn’t just alive. It’s thriving once again. The angel Gabriel must have been right then: “Nothing is impossible with God.”

The Most Surprising Photos of Pope Francis

Pope Francis
The wind lifts Pope Francis' mantle as he delivers his speech in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, on Sept. 26, 2015.Tony Gentile—AP
Pope Francis US visit
Pope Francis looks at the Statue of Liberty from the window of a helicopter on his way to the John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York City, on Sept. 26, 2015.L'Osservatore Romano/AP
Pope Francis US Visit mannequin
A Pope Francis mannequin rides around in a car in Times Square as New York City waits for the arrival of the Pope to the city, on Sept. 24, 2015.Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images
Pope Francis US Visit
Kaydn Dorsey, 4, and Lionel Perkins, 4, draw on a coloring sheet bearing the image of Pope Francis as they wait for him to arrive on a visit to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington in Washington, on Sept. 24, 2015.David Goldman—Reuters
Pope Francis US Visit nuns selfie
Nuns with the Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy in Pleasantville, N.J., pose for a selfie with a cutout of Pope Francis, at the World Meeting of Families conference, in Philadelphia, on Sept. 22, 2015. Matt Rourke—AP
Pope Francis Birthday
Pope Francis blows out the candles of a birthday cake to celebrate his 78th birthday during a general audience at the Vatican on Dec. 17, 2014. Osservatore Romano/AFP/Getty Images
Francis
Paying the bill at Rome's Domus Internationalis Paulus VI hotel, where Pope Francis stayed as a cardinal before entering the conclave and being elected pope.Osservatore Romano/AP
Vatican Benedict
Welcoming Pope emeritus Benedict XVI as he returns to the Vatican from the pontifical summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.Osservatore Romano/AP
POPE: EASTER HOLY MASS
Holding a disabled child after celebrating Easter Mass.Alessandro di Meo—ANSA/Zuma Press
BRASIL-POPE-FRANCIS-MASK
Pope Francis masks in a factory in Brazil, where the Pontiff took his first overseas trip. Christophe Simon—AFP/Getty Images
Italy - Religion - Pope Francis leads Worldwide Eucharistic Adoration
Leading the Worldwide Eucharistic adoration at the Vatican.Alessandra Benedetti—Corbis
Vatican Pope
A gust of wind blows the pope's mantle. Alessandra Tarantino—AP
Pope Francis attends the opening of the Pastoral Convention of the Diocese of Rome at the Vatican
Attending the opening of the Pastoral Convention of the Diocese of Rome. Stefano Rellandini—Reuters
Pope Francis waves as he leaves Guanabara Palace where he attended a welcoming ceremony in Rio de Janeiro
Leaving a welcoming ceremony at Guanabara Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo Moraes—Reuters
Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead the weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican
Greeting the weekly General Audience. Stefano Rellandini—Reuters
Pope Francis
Pointing to the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida from the balcony of the Aparecida basilica in Brazil. Domenico Stinellis—AP
Catholic faithful with sticker bearing an image of Pope Francis on his forehead looks on while waiting for the Pope to arrive in Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro
A Catholic faithful in Brazil bears a sticker of Pope Francis on his forehead. Ueslei Marcelino—Reuters
Pope Francis is projected on screens at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro
Images of Pope Francis projected onto screens at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. Paulo Whitaker— Reuters
Pope Francis is pictured inside his plane before departing from Rio de Janeiro at Galeao Air Base
Departing Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo Moraes—Reuters
Brazil Pope Photo Gallery
A stray dog walks across the stage near the altar where Pope Francis celebrates the World Youth Day's closing Mass on the Copacabana beachfront. Victor R. Caivano—AP
Pope Francis in Brazil
Listening to confessions of young people in a park in Rio de Janeiro. L'Osservatore Romano—EPA
POPE FRANCIS MEETS PIACENZA PILGRIMS
Posing with youths in Saint Peter's Basilica.L'Osservatore Romano—EPA
Vatican, St. Peter's Square - General Audience of Pope Francis
Greeting the faithful on a rainy day during the General Audience.Fabio Frustaci—Eidon Press/Zuma Press
Pope Francis wears a firefighter helmet as he arrives to lead his Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican
Arriving to lead his General Audience in a firefighter's helmet.Stefano Rellandini—Reuters
Pope Francis is silhouetted against window light at the end of a meeting at the Vatican
A quiet moment after meeting with Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo at the Vatican.Max Rossi—Reuters
Pope Francis photographed in the Vatican, Rome, Italy in November-December, 2013. Pope Francis was chosen as TIME Magazine's 2013 Person of the Year.
Marking the 110th anniversary UNITALSI, a Catholic organization dedicated to helping the sick. Francesco Zizola—NOOR for TIME
Vatican Russia
A private Audience with Russian President Vladimir Putin. L'Osservatore Romano/AP
APTOPIX Vatican Cold Pope
Keeping warm during a General Audience. Alessandra Tarantino—AP
Pope Francis' General Audience
Comforting a disfigured man at the end of his General Audience. Claudio Peri—EPA
Pope Francis - General Audience - Nov. 20 2013
Blessing a sick man with deformed facial features. Evandro Inetti—Zuma Press
ITALY-VATICAN-POPE-VISIT-EPIPHANY
Visiting the parish of the Sant'Alfonso Maria de Liguori during the Epiphany day.L'Osservatore Romano—AFP/Getty Images
Pope Francis reacts as he leads a Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican
Reacting to devotees at a weekly General Audience.Alessandro Bianchi—Reuters
A dove released during an Angelus prayer conducted by Pope Francis, is attacked by a seagull at the Vatican
A seagull attacks a dove released during a prayer conducted by Pope Francis. Alessandro Bianchi—Reuters
A scarf thrown by faithful is seen on the face of Pope Francis during the general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican
A scarf is tossed at Pope Francis by a faithful. Tony Gentile—Reuters
Italy - Feature - First Pope Francis graffiti murales appears in Rome
Italian artist Mauro Pallotta's superhero rendering of Pope Francis in a street near St. Peter's Basilica.Alessandra Benedetti—Corbis
TOPSHOTS-VATICAN-RELIGION-POPE-AUDIENCE
Blowing a kiss to pilgrims gathered at Saint Peter's Square. Vincenzo Pinto—AFP/Getty Images
Obama - Pope Francis
Meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the private library of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.Vatican Pool/Contrasto/Redux
Italy - H.M Queen Elisabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets Pope Francis
With Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the Vatican.Alessandra Benedetti—Vatican Pool/Corbis
ITALY-VATICAN-POPE-MAUNDY--THURSDAY
A wind gust lifts Pope Francis's mantle as he arrives at the traditional Washing of the Feet during Holy Thursday. Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty Images
ITALY-VATICAN-POPE-MAUNDY--THURSDAY
Kissing a man's at the traditional Washing of the Feet. Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty Images
Vatican Pope
Visitors take photos of Pope Francis as he speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Michael Sohn—AP

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