If you haven’t already heard—and if you haven’t seriously where have you been—Pope Francis is currently touring the United States and it’s a huge deal. Since becoming the 266th pope, Pope Francis has done a lot of reforming of the Catholic Church and truly refining the way in which the church is typically viewed. Not only that but he is breaking down boundaries, as not only the first Jesuit pope, but he is also the first pope to be from the Southern Hemisphere, Argentina to be exact.
Why is he such a big deal?
On Friday September 23, 2015, Pope Francis along with leaders from numerous other countries met at the United Nations to talk about some of the latest and greatest world issues such as Climate Change, nuclear weapons, drug trafficking and poverty. He believes “the future demands of us critical and global decisions in the face of worldwide conflicts, which increase the number of the excluded and those in need” (Refinery29). Pope Francis is urging us to pay better attention our surroundings as we work toward creating a better world and saving the environment.
Another ground-breaking reform he has been talking about, was he mentioned that while the Catholic Church still renounces gay marriage, he sees nothing wrong with civil unions. He made this statement in March of 2015, months before the United States Supreme Court voted gay marriage legal in all states.
The Pope took his name after Saint Francis of Assisi who was famous for living a simple life, and Pope Francis is now following in the same footsteps. He is most famously known for rejecting any and all luxury which is a huge statement as such luxury is seemingly at his fingertips considering he is such a worldly figurehead. As the pope many people look to him in regard to how they should live their lives. Interestingly, much of the United States culture glorifies vanity so his response to the way in which we live our lives will be more than interesting to see.
Fast Facts:
While far in the past now, he was just like us collegiates once and got a degree in Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires.
He had showers installed at the Vatican in Rome for homeless people to use.
He was Time Magazine’s 2013 Person of the year, and the article was written by President Barack Obama.
He loves to watch soccer, and continues to support his favorite team San Lorenzo de Almagro Football club.
Want to know more?
http://popefrancisnyc.org/fun-facts
http://www.refinery29.com/2015/09/94611/united-nations-pope-francis-new-york-visit-climate-speech
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/popefrancis/story/384360/ten-cool-facts-about-pope-francis
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/14/world/pope-francis-fast-facts/