The pomp and circumstance of the Catholic Church has been a subject of amazement to me throughout my life.
The vestments and garments of the priests, the rituals of the mass and most particularly, the ornate structures of the cathedrals were things that I would gaze at in wonder as a child.
I grew up in a town where Catholic churches are as plentiful as drive-thrus, and I was raised attending Sunday morning mass at St. John’s Cathedral — a German romanesque cathedral that is nothing short of remarkable.
Tradition, ritual and grandeur were heavily a part of my Catholic upbringing. They are things I honor and enjoy still to this day.
But our new Pope Francis has shown a veteran’s confidence in leading an atypical papacy after only a few months, living simply in a position that has for thousands of years been draped in eccentricities.
Immediately upon his selection, news coverage pegged him as humble man who led an austere life and advocated for the poor. And atypically, the media has stood to be correct in this assertion.
Recently, Pope Francis has made some dramatic alterations not only as the leader of the Church, but also as the head of government in the Vatican.
Last week, he overhauled Vatican law in efforts to reflect international standards on sexual abuse against children, as well as sought to reform the Vatican’s bank — an obscure institution linked to the Church that is at the center of a money-laundering investigation.
All of these are seemingly obvious changes within the Vatican state, but are in fact more representative of the direction Francis is seeking to align the Church.
However, aside from these more broad changes, Francis has exemplified a lifestyle that prioritizes small gestures, like paying the bill at a hotel that belongs to the Church the day after his election, or refusing to use the papal limousine and instead riding in a minibus or asking to borrow a man’s vehicle when visiting the island of Lampedusa.
Subsequently, he also called to humility clergy members who tend to have lavish taste in automobiles or the latest technologies, requesting that they abandon such luxuries for the simple life.
It is actions like these that may be more revolutionary than the fact he is the first non-European pope in 1,200 years, or the first pope from the global South.
His small simple gestures, like washing the feet of an imprisoned Muslim woman this previous Holy Thursday, will provide an example that will have far greater reach and influence among the Church than overhauling Vatican law.
As I, and many others, praise Pope Francis for his humility when it appears to be a time where such practices seem so difficult — that we may believe it to be easier for such a person to accept the luxuries afforded to him — I would be willing to bet that the Holy Father is equally amazed at our praises.
Pope Francis has reached back beyond the bells and whistles of being the Vicar of Christ. He has returned the role to its foundations in the simple teachings and parables of Jesus Christ.
Considering such the progressive era we live in, I believe Pope Francis’ reign, by the direction he has taken — in perhaps the most tradition abiding position on Earth — will prove to be a historical one.
Chris Ortte is a 22-year-old political science senior from Lafayette.