I don't normally talk politics or religion on my blog, I don't wish to anger people with something I really want to be a positive and emotional journey. Please excuse me for talking about religion today.
I have to say, I have been rather impressed with Pope Francis. He has been a total breath of fresh air. From the very start, he made it clear that he was a normal dude. He refused the massive Papal apartment. He doesn't wear the funny Pope shoes, or generally any other of the Liberace like garb. His car that he drives himself around in has over 300,000 miles on it. He once swept floors for a job, and he was even once a bouncer to earn a little cash. He is challenging the local establishment, and apparently has a belief that there is changes within that are needed. Working for a fraternity, I understand the desire for men to resist change (sometimes), and we are only 157 years old. The church, being thousands of years old, REALLY resists change. Im excited about where he is going to lead us.
There have been a lot of mistakes, and some tragedies, caused by the Catholic Church. One new Pope, won't change (or erase) all that, but he is off to a fantastic start. Outside of the US military, I believe the Catholic Church is one of the greatest forces for good, worldwide. Despite the mistakes that have been made, when done right, few can rival the positive impact on poverty that the Church has had. I think they have a man at the helm who will go back to this original focus. He seemingly wants to return the Church to the Catholic mission of love all, peace, and servitude, no matter what.
I travel a lot because of work and meet a lot of fantastic people. I was traveling somewhere recently when the conversation of Pope Francis came up. My friend is very opposite of me in a lot of ways. If not for SAE (which this is one of the great aspects of any fraternity), Im not sure he and I would naturally be friends. Our differences are most extreme by our politics. My friend, is also a homosexual. One thing we do have in common is we are both Catholics. A while back I asked him what he thought of this new Pope. His answer was "Boomer, I love Pope Francis." Which for me, was a very powerful answer. I felt moved by this because I thought that if Pope Francis can make us (who are very opposite) agree on something, he must be doing some good things. Shoot, even my brother is taking notice of Pope Francis. I was watching a morning show this morning, and they were even talking about how "cool" Pope Francis is. The words "let me tell you how much I love Pope Francis" were used. Church attendance is up across the world, and much of has been attributed to Pope Francis and his common person views of things.
Who knows what will happen from here? The Church is an organization that has been very important to my father (my hero), his mother, and is with Brooke and I. Its so fulfilling to have someone at the top who says things that we have said for a long time. I believe that every organization, regardless of the scope or size, needs a leader they can believe in. They need someone who they have faith will make the right decisions no matter the difficulty. They also have to believe that leader will remain calm during stormy waters. Pope Francis is someone I can look up to. I think he is someone, regardless of your faith, we all might be able to look up to. Lets hope so anyway, thats why they call it "faith."
Pax vobiscum!
