I think it will be one of those moments that will stick in my mind forever. Kind of like the "I remember where I was on 9/11" catchphrase, I remember where I was when Pope Francis was elected.
One day walking around New York City, my mission trip buddies and I decided to hop on the Staten Island Ferry. We were passing the Statue of Liberty, and in the middle of having a moment to take it all in, our phones started buzzing like crazy. Our "Pope Alarms" were going off. Smoke white as snow was rising out of the smokestack in the beautiful Vatican City.
Chaos erupted from our group as we passed the expansive Statue of Liberty, even though we weren't paying attention at all. Tuning in to the live broadcast, texting friends and family members, and asking each other who it could be ensues.
Hopping off the ferry (after making quite the scene, of course, but it's New York City, so it probably isn't anything new), we sit back down in the station. The thing about the ferry was that you could pay once for a round trip if you didn't get off at Staten Island. In other words, if you hopped on the ferry, got off, waited for the next one, and hopped right back on, you only technically had to pay for your transit out to the island. That was our plan. Waiting for the next ferry to arrive, all 20 of us crowd around our priest, watching the live feed from the tiny screen of an iPhone. I'm sure it was a comical sight. But the big question was, who is it?? Someone said it was someone from Africa, someone else said it was someone from Milan, someone even joked that it was Cardinal Dolan, the American
About 15 or 20 minutes passed with no word and no man emerging from the balcony. We boarded the ferry to head back to the city, only to once again crowd around the iPhone in case we missed anything. Then, as we were passing the Statue of Liberty again, the cardinal from Buenos Aires steps out onto the balcony. Snippets of headlines about the new successor flood our cellphones: "the people's pope," "charitable and humble," "the clear candidate." As we wait to hear his first speech to the world, he stands and asks the world to take a moment to pray - for HIM.
His speech that day nearly brought me to tears. And since then, Papa Francisco has continued to amaze and inspire me. To me, he is the one person that could show me what true humility looked like as he chose to spend his papacy living in a tiny Vatican apartment. He is someone who shows the world what true charity is, as he invites 200 of the homeless Romans to a banquet dinner, sending them off with gifts. He is someone whom the world recognizes as a true man of Christ.
This morning I found out that he was being named Vanity Fair Italia's "Man of the Year." (find the article here) And while I anxiously wait for the edition to go on sale so I can have one shipped to myself, I am not so surprised by the title he was given. While the Catholic church goes under the gun in the light of recent issues like abortion and gay marriage, the people of the world see beyond what others would see as "traditionalist" or "old" to something much deeper.
Why do I love Pope Francis? Not simply because he is an inspiration for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, but because he is what the world sorely needs. Many times I find myself frustrated by the idea others have about the Church being either some kind of culmination of strict cult followers with no mercy, or a bunch of hypocrites. And for a while, I thought so, too. But after meeting the people I've met and seeing what I have come from those people, my mind has since changed (duh).
Pope Francis is that kind of person to the rest of the world. I can't wait to see what the next few years with him have in store.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
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