TIME announced today that Pope Francis was the winner of its Person of the Year award. The final cut consisted of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, LGBT activist Edith Windsor, US Representative Ted Cruz and the runner up Edward Snowden.
Pope Francis has done a spectacular job of capturing the headlines in a positive way for a Catholic church that has been viewed as corrupt and out of touch. Bringing a renewed emphasis to the tradition of ministry, the church has been imbued with a dynamism unseen in decades.
In an increasingly irreligious world, the pope has become a strong moral compass for society in a way that even the most ardent atheists can respect.
He has quickly realized and mobilized the political clout of the papacy in a way that has not been recently seen. By virtue of his standing as a major world leader (the number of practicing Catholics is roughly equivalent to the population of China), he automatically has a platform, and he has been unafraid to use it to shake things up.
Not just by preaching, but living a message of love, Francis’s leadership by example is an unassailable “good thing,” and changes the focus from quibbling over small degrees of difference to meeting the sinful and needy where they are and seeking to help them from there.
Even the very name he chose upon being elected pope reflects his commitment to a life of ministry; Francis of Assisi is a legendary monk from the 1200s who dedicated himself to living in poverty and constant outreach.
Here are my five favorite moments from the new pope’s nine months in charge (he was voted in on March 13!):
He washed the feet of inmates, including women and a Muslim woman
It is tradition for the pope to wash feet every Good Friday, an action that Jesus did at the Last Supper to signify humility and demonstrate the imperative that in order to lead, one must first serve. The controversial aspect of this lies in the fact this was the first time a pope has ever washed either a woman’s or a Muslim’s feet.
By consciously including extremely marginalized demographics into his ceremonial washing, he is showing the Catholic church how it needs to minister not to just those most central to society, but the people on the outside.
He engaged in serious fiscal reform within the Catholic Church
Ditching the previous pope’s custom-made Renault, BMW X5 and Mercedes and
switching to a Ford Focus;
suspending the German “Bishop of Bling” before any preliminary results from Papal investigation into impropriety budgeting; publishing the
financial records of Vatican City in order to combat corruption; and foregoing many traditional luxurious trappings of the papacy (no Prada slippers, no longer wearing the more ostentatious robes, iron crucifix chain instead of gold): all these acts show how serious Pope Francis is about austerity within the church.
Truly an example for any representative bureaucracy to follow, knowing that the money should be spent on DOING things, instead of stunting.
“It hurts me when I see a priest or nun with the latest-model car. You can’t do this. A car is necessary to do a lot of work, but, please, choose a more humble one. If you like the fancy one, just think about how many children are dying of hunger in the world.”
He criticized systems that create inequality and marginalize the less-equal
Pope Francis’s first exhortation denounced “idolatry of money” and called trickle-down economic theory “a new tyranny” while demanding that “money should serve, not rule,” leading Rush Limbaugh to call the pope a Marxist and Sarah Palin to question the pope’s motives.
Additionally, the Vatican has officially denied the rumors, presumably to protect the pope, but
Francis is believed to be sneaking out at night to help and spend time with the homeless.
He softened the church’s stance on social issues
In the US particularly, Catholic influence has been aligned against LGBT rights and women’s reproductive rights. While not straying from the Church’s official position on those issues (Francis has clearly stated that he believes the practice of homosexuality to be a sin and that life begins at conception), he has instead challenged the Church not to be combative over such issues:
“It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. We have to find a new balance otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.” NY Times
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Baltimore Sun
He’s a pope who gives a damn about the environment
Pope Francis has posed with environmental activists, holding a t-shirt with anti-fracking slogans, and in his inaugural speech said, “It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live.” The central tenets of his rule so far have been ones of responsibility and acting with others in mind, in order to maximize not just personal welfare, but societal utility.
I leave you with this quote from His Eminence, one which I think captures his entire goal and plan for the Catholic Church, which could potentially transform it from an archaic institution slowing the tide of progress to a radical and active force for the betterment of all mankind. Congratulations to Pope Francis for winning Person of the Year, and to us for having him in our world.
“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 clinging to its own security.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
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