Since Jorge Mario Bergoglio ascended to the head of the worldwide Catholic church earlier this year and became Pope Francis, he’s been garnering loads of positive headlines:
- Pope Francis calls for inclusion of gays in society, saying he has no right to ‘judge’
- Pope Calls for More ‘Social Justice’ as Workers Take to Streets
- Pope washes feet of young detainees in Holy Thursday ritual
- Pope invites homeless to Vatican dinner
- Frugal Pope Francis says no flashy car for me as he turns to second hand Fiat during visit
- Home Sweet Domus – No Palace for The Pope
- Just call me Frank: Is Pope Francis the most down-to-earth ever?
- A Papal Blessing for 35,000 Harley Riders at Vatican City
- Pope Francis is looking for bishops who have the “smell of their sheep(flock) on them”
Even if you’re not Catholic it’s encouraging to see the world’s most prominent spokesperson for Christianity getting good headlines.
People are smitten with the pope. He’s leaving behind the flashy trappings of the papacy and embracing a simpler, humbler life. When he talks about inclusion and outreach people sit up and notice. He’s even embracing the poor and downtrodden in his actions, supporting the poor, inviting the homeless to dinner and washing the feet of detainees.
The pope is actually reminding people of… Jesus.
I think that’s all kind of sad.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m loving Pope Francis. What I’m not loving is how surprising it is that the most prominent Christian in the world is acting like Jesus.
This should be standard operating procedure for every pope, bishop, pastor and priest. It should be common among everyone who sits in a pew on Sunday. Unfortunately it’s not.
You want to know how to do a better job marketing your church? I think Pope Francis is living it right now.
AFP PHOTO / EVARISTO SA
Mike Brewer
August 15, 2013
Marketing? Really? Is the Pope trying out a old way so as to better market his product, the Catholic Church? When “living it” and “Marketing it” are synonymous or in any way co dependent we should just call the professional fund raisers to love our neighbors for us.
Kevin D. Hendricks
August 15, 2013
No one is accusing Pope Francis of doing all of this as a marketing act. That would be stupid. That would be one of the ways that we mean church marketing sucks.
Katie
August 15, 2013
As someone who’d been paying close attention to the three popes of my adult life – what strikes me is the question of personality a leader’s/ pope’s impact. John Paul II – gregarious, extroverted and dramatic had a dynamic impact on the children/teens and adults of the Catholic Church for 25 years. And I think he played a strong role on the world stage – but a lot of what he had to say was about contemporary cultural hazards, the dangers of secular humanism, Marxism, materialism. Benedict XVI – shy, scholarly, and systematic in his theological brilliance was less accessible – but also loved by those who paid attention to his writing and initiatives. Now onto the world stage comes a pastor. JPII was an expert in a philosophical school called “personalism” but Francis is PERSONAL. And he brings the perspective of the individual challenges in following Jesus to everything he says and does. He doesn’t allow himself to be managed by his handlers – and the crowd goes wild. A meme in the Catholic blogosphere offers a series of great quotes from “the pope”, quotes that the reader will think are our new Pope Francis in all of his populist and personalized appeal – and they are actually quotes from Benedict.
Dave Shrein
August 17, 2013
Agreed. His behavior is forcing me to look at my own life because it means ill have to change. I say that as someone who has some favorite comforts that can become sin and though I know I must change, it isn’t easy. Having a good example from the “most prominent Christian” is really something awesome!
Angelique
November 14, 2013
Wow! This brought tears to my eyes. All over board emotions aside, you make an incredible point. One I have been working on trying to make for a long time. Let’s just love people no matter how they treat us or what they say. Let’s just tell the truth about our Savior no matter the cost. The cost is high to cause it means radially changing our lives forever. Thank you Kevin!!!