Pope Francis: The People’s Pope

 The church is a funny kind of institution, because although it’s global and worldwide and split into different factions like Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Episcopalian, etc., it’s a little bit like an air bed. It goes down on one side and then goes up on the other. So, in Europe, it is very strong. Now Europe is going right down, and in America–I should say in both in North and South America, the numbers are rising. So, it’s kind of interesting.

 And the other thing I think is also worthy of comment is the fact that the Pope isn’t interested in making converts into the Catholic faith. He’s often said, God isn’t a Catholic God. God is God, and if we try and put God in a box or a religious denomination box, we’re actually limiting God. So, he said, you know, we don’t have the answer to everything.

 And to me is personally very refreshing to hear a Pope speaking with such frankness and also changing the optics a little bit, as well.

Christopher Buck: He’s truly admirable; one of our outreaches is our page on Facebook, and there’s not a single day goes by that we don’t see a picture of the Pope and one of his quotes, and we’re just like, “my God, we love this Pope.”

Father Collins: Yeah, yeah.

Christopher Buck: The Jesuits themselves are known to be active doers. They’re the hands in the garden, helping those in need. My wife, Liane, who is the cofounder of Humanity Healing International, when she was just out of college living in Brazil, she worked with the Jesuits creating community actions to raise the standards of living in poor communities.

 Do you think this background of being a Jesuit is what makes Pope Francis so impassioned about economic inequality? And do you think he’s launched a Holy War, if you pardon the expression, against economic inequality?

Father Collins: Yes, I think that’s very true. I think you’ve probably put your finger on a very important point. Because he’s a Jesuit – you know, we [the others] work in parishes. We all say that the Jesuits are the really intelligent guys.