Pope Francis celebrates his fifth year in Vatican City

March 13, 2018 marked the fifth year anniversary of our current pope, Pope Francis. Ever since he accepted the mantle, he has become an exemplar for Catholics all over the world.

So far, Pope Francis has been receiving positive reviews from the general public. In an article by CNA, Martha Reichert, the President of ENDOW states, “If I could sum up the first 5 years of Pope Francis’ vision for the Church, I would do it with one word ‘integrity’ – Better integrating the mind with the heart, better integrating humanity with our mission to be stewards of creation.”

There may be a secret to his success; previous popes have preserved more conservative values and followed traditional ways. For example, according to ABC news, “the bubble-like pope mobile and limousines that were used to drive Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II around the Vatican were shunned by Pope Francis in favor of this small used Renault car.” This “Renault car” was a gift from an Italian parish priest, Reverend Renzo Zocca, who used the car to help around underprivileged neighborhoods. This preferred mode of transportation speaks a lot to the type of person the pope is, one who is humble even considering his overwhelming status and power.

Furthermore, the pope has a radical view on the controversial issue of gay rights. Typically, the Catholic religion and popes of the past have subtly shunned the LGBT community. However, Pope Francis stated, “When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [towards homosexuality] is not the problem,” according to an article by the National Catholic Reporter.

Pope Francis obviously shares very different views from the past popes. He does not put himself up on a pedestal like a pope usually would, when revered and recognized by so many people in the world. He offers help to the poor and welcomes people of all ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds with open arms. It would seem as if Catholics would be angered by such a change in ideology in their leader. However, they only seem to support him more. According to Pew Research Center, “Now, seven-in-ten Americans express a favorable view of Francis, while 19% express an unfavorable opinion and just 11% say they don’t know enough to be able to rate the pontiff,” versus Catholics, “eight-in-ten or more American Catholics routinely giving the pope favorable ratings. Currently, 87% of Catholics express a favorable view of the pope.” Pope Francis has pulled extremely high approval ratings despite his risky statements.

The correlation between Pope Francis’ beliefs and his approval ratings mirror the progressive nature of our society. Lately, people have begun to focus exclusively on accepting everyone regardless of f gender, race, sexuality and financial class. The fact that a presence as impactful as the pope stands behind the movement for equality foreshadows a great future ahead of us.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Faith Cheung of Richard Montgomery High School