3 Things the Popularity of Pope Francis Can Teach You About Evangelization

So, is it just me, or has Pope Francis wowed the world?

Three weeks ago almost no one knew is name.

Now he’s endeared himself to millions…including me.

So, all the media attention got me wondering, is there something we can learn here? What can the media fascination with Pope Francis teach us?

Here are the three lessons on evangelization gleaned from the most commented on qualities of Pope Francis.

1. Humility is attractive in a Church leader

This doesn’t necessarily have to do with clothes. Pope Emeritus Benedict was always described as extremely humble.

However, simplicity seems to go a long way in conveying humility, and humility is attractive.

From the moment he quietly stepped out on the loggia at St. Peter’s wearing a just a white cassock, people were talking about his simplicity and humility.

Before he blessed the crowd and the world, he asked a blessing on himself.

The stories quickly circulated how, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he rode the bus to work and didn’t live in the episcopal palace. Instead, he kept a small apartment and cooked his own food.

For Pope Francis, simplicity communicates he doesn’t grasp at power. He accepts it willingly as a servant.

This kind of simplicity and servant leadership is the same thing that drew so many to St. Francis 800 years ago. He lived the gospel, and he led people to do the same.

2. The Church must be interested in people

Pope Francis seems to genuinely enjoy people.

He warmly greeted the Cardinals after the election, speaking with each of them at length…embracing them and joking with them.

Francis embodies a welcoming, open, and inviting attitude…and people respond. He goes out among the people. He’s accessible and approachable.

After his first Mass at St. Anna’s Church in Rome, Pope Francis waded out into the crowd to greet people with no concern for his own personal safety. I bet his security was having a heart attack. No matter, he does things differently.

Evangelical churches steal Catholics by being welcoming and inviting, recognizing every single person. Regardless of background, they work to find a place for people. Have you led a sinful life and don’t seem to fit with Christianity? Jesus welcomes sinners.

There can be more concern for structures and categories in the Church than the concrete person. You have a checkered past, don’t go to Mass every Sunday, and haven’t baptized your kids right after birth? You don’t fit our structures and don’t belong here.

The Church must be more open, welcoming, and inviting. Like Pope Francis, we have to communicate personal charity, a concern for the concrete person standing right in front of us. After all, they’ll know we’re Christians by our love, right?

3. The Church must be for the poor

The Catholic Church as always been a spiritually poor church dedicated to the poor and marginalized, physically and spiritually.

That’s something that many outside the Church miss. They see a large, global, (sometimes corrupt) institution that owns lots of property and has lots of money. What they don’t see is the Church spends most of that money on it’s own people and other people in need.

Like St. Francis, Pope Francis is a man for the poor. He gives a public face to the Church’s preferential option for the poor. His simplicity goes with this as well. He’s a man that doesn’t spend money on himself, but on others.

When he was made a cardinal in 2001, people from his congregation wanted to raise money so a contingent could go see him be installed. He asked instead that they stay at home and give the money to the poor.

The most famous example of Pope Francis’ care for the marginalized is when he stopped the Popemobile to get out and kiss a disabled man being carried by a friend. The scene is striking. It reminds you of the paralytic whose friends lowered him through the roof to see Jesus.

That sort of thing is nothing new for Pope Francis. It was his habit to visit the sick in hospitals in his archdiocese. He regularly visited the slums to say confessions too.

Catholic parishes often come off like private clubs for those who have it all together. Instead, they should be seen as hospitals where sinners come to get well.

A word about authenticity

Perhaps the last lesson for evangelization is authenticity and transparency win the day. Pope Francis brings his own unique personality and charisms to the papacy, and he continually surprises everyone with his unexpected ways.

He’s a humble and self-effacing bishop who genuinely loves people and cares for the poor and marginalized. But without a doubt, those qualities are very attractive to the world and evangelizing.

Really, he’s making Christ known through his own special gifts. In the end, that’s your goal in evangelization…to make Christ’s light shine in the world through your actions.

What is your favorite story of Pope Francis? Has Pope Francis challenged you or changed your attitudes about some things? Let me know in the comments.