When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio appeared on the Vatican balcony and was announced as Pope Francis on March 13, most of us had no idea who he was or what kind of pope he would be. Within a few minutes we learned about a few firsts: the first pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit pope, and the first non-European pope in nearly 1300 years. As the first days unfolded, we saw images of him on public transport back in Buenos Aires and other images and words that revealed who the humble man was that the cardinal-electors had chosen to replace Benedict XVI. These first months have shown the stamp he is likely to leave on the papacy and the Church. He continues to surprise us by his simplicity, honesty, transparency, spontaneity, humility and humanity.
It is clear that Pope Francis h
as tremendous self-awareness, such that he is very comfortable with himself. He didn’t change his personal down-to-earth style to suit the expectations and assumptions of those around him in the Vatican. Not even in the first minutes of his papacy did he give in to the trappings of power – not in his clothing, transportation, food, living accommodations, ordinary contact with others and spontaneity in his remarks. I’m sure that we all have our favourite anecdotes about Pope Francis, a video clip that we love because it sums up the man’s spontaneous style, a photo that shows him lovingly embracing a handicapped child, a quote that speaks in such an ordinary way about the love of Christ or the problems in the Church, an image of him washing the feet of a Muslim girl in a youth detention centre, or the no-holds-barred sensitivity to the poor.
Michael Higgins, a noted Canadian Catholic writer and educator, prepared a piece about Pope Francis’ first 100 days for The Globe and Mail. He offered the view that Pope Francis is humanizing the Office of Peter. Higgins describes the first few months of this papacy as a revolution, in terms of style. “He has simply and eloquently transferred his pastoral style from the River Plate to the River Tiber.” Higgins goes on, “Francis has, by rewriting the script, demystified the papacy.” That makes a big difference to people, whether Catholic or not. We have a man who clearly practices what he preaches and isn’t going to be controlled by anyone.
My experience of the past few months is that people feel hopeful about the Church. Indeed there are traditionalists who have their critique of the changes introduced by Pope Francis. But most Catholics are pleasantly surprised by what they see. Older Catholics who were alive under Blessed Pope John XXIII draw comparisons between the two popes. Even those with no faith or no interest in the workings of the Catholic Church have shown more interest in the past few months.
Few expect that Pope Francis will implement major changes on some of the hot button issues, but he seems to be offering a friendlier face 
of the hierarchical Church than we are used to. He will win a lot of fans if he brings about reform of the governance of the Roman Curia and if he improves relations between the Vatican and the Church in local cultures. A long-term hope that I have heard expressed involves the future of the papacy. Pope Francis’ demystifying of the papacy means that it will be very difficult for his successors to revert to the monarchical trappings that have marked the papacy for a long time. A favourite line of mine from a film from some years ago seems apt: “I, for one, am very curious as to how all this will turn out.” Long may Pope Francis serve the Church!