April 30, 2025 “He’s small, but he’s the pope!” The text accompanied a picture of the U.S. Capitol. The lawn in front of the building was packed tightly with thousands of people. In front of the crowd, surrounded by a sea of people in dark-colored business suits on an upper balcony of the Capitol, was a person clad entirely in white. The figure in white, the figure that appeared so small to us from our spot toward the middle of the lawn, was Pope Francis. The post was made by my friend and cousin, Jared, as the two of us stood in that throng of people and received a papal blessing after Pope Francis’ historic address to a joint meeting of Congress in 2015. While Jared was referencing how tiny the pope appeared from far away and relative to a massive building and massive crowd, I’ve thought about that quote more times than I could count in the years that have followed. Pope Francis was elected to the role shortly before I returned to the Catholic Church after more than a decade far removed from her. While there were a variety of people, events and teachings that brought me home, Pope Francis was one of them. It’s fair to say I was wallowing in sinfulness back then. I thought I didn’t belong in the Church. I didn’t think she would welcome someone like me. Then I saw a pope who washed the feet of prisoners and who openly talked about being a sinner himself. Pope Francis helped me feel like I belonged in the Church. Was Pope Francis perfect? No. I’ve yet to find a perfect person anywhere in the Church or in the world. Despite his imperfections and occasional blunders, I loved that he could dine with heads of state and famous people, yet he seemed to prefer hosting the homeless and hungry. He chose a guest house over a palace. He held possibly the most prestigious title in the world, and he chose to hold it with humility. He made himself small though he was the pope, and I pray we all can learn from that example. |
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