One-hundred days after Francis became the first non-European pope
since the eighth century, the main difference between him and his
European predecessors has more to do with style than concrete action.
Francis
made his humble and pastoral style known to the massive crowds in St.
Peter's Square three months ago, when he refused much of the garb and
traditions that come along with the job.
Since then, he has celebrated
public Masses almost daily, mingling with adoring crowds and shunning
the sprawling papal apartments for a small and simple studio.
"Christianity
is more than anything a style, and Francis has brought his own style as
a pastor and a leader by example to this job," said Alberto Melloni, a
professor of Christian history at the University of Modena and Reggio
Emilia.
"This is not superficial; it is essential."
It is a style
that resonates with Catholics. Despite bad weather in recent weeks,
crowds in St. Peter's Square during papal Masses have swelled since
Francis became pope.
Roman hospitals have reported that the name Francis
— already a popular one in Italy — has become significantly more
popular over the past three months.
"What
you see when you see a humble man like Francis is what I think of as
being Christ-like," said Fellipa Sandroni, 44, an administrator in a
Catholic school, who was at the Vatican for the papal Mass Sunday. "He
is inspiring."
Nanou Robez, 72, a French national who has lived in
Rome for 50 years, said, "It is wonderful to finally have someone in
the Vatican who seems to personify the lessons of the church."
After
the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 28, many Vatican experts
listed changing the Vatican bureaucracy and confronting corruption and
scandal within the Holy See as the top challenges for his successor as
pontiff. Francis has done little in these areas.
Tackling the
Roman Curia — the Vatican's main administrative bureaucracy — will
probably wait until October, when Francis is likely to appoint a Vatican
secretary of state and the eight members of the College of Bishops.
"There
will be many changes in the coming months; there is plenty of time for
that," says Paolo Rodari, a prominent Vatican expert with the Rome
newspaper La Repubblica. "But what he is doing now is putting his
stamp on the papacy, and that will have an impact when he takes on more
temporal issues.
"This is not a question of power and influence,"
Rodari said. "It is about shedding light on the least important among
us, about loving our neighbors, setting a certain example. This will
create an authority that will make taking on certain difficult issues
easier later on."
Refusing to live in the 12-room papal apartments
in the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square in favor of the
modest St. Martha's guesthouse is probably the pope's most symbolic
decision, some observers said.
The apartments, which include a private
library, a chapel and priceless artwork, had been the official residence
for popes since the 17th century.
"I love the fact that Pope
Francis said he didn't want to live amid all the pomp and circumstance
of the traditional apartments," said Arnel Ramos, 39, a Filipino parish
priest studying in Rome for a year. "I interpret it as a way to say he
doesn't care too much about the way popes have done it in the past. He
is going to do it his own way."
Francis' papacy is marked by many
historical firsts. In addition to becoming the first-ever pope from the
Western Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since Gregory III in
731, the Buenos Aires-born Francis is the first pontiff since Boniface
VIII in 1294 to take up his post while his predecessor (in Boniface's
case, Celestine V) is alive.
(Gregory XII resigned in 1415, but he died
before a successor was named).
In fact, Benedict lives nearby, in a
house on the Vatican grounds.
Is Francis' style as pope a rejection of the eight-year reign by the more distant and cerebral Benedict? Experts say no.
"Every
pope is supposed to bring his own style to his post; he is not bound by
his predecessor," said Melloni, the Christian history professor.
"Of
course, most of the time, this is not done with the predecessor living
in a house in the garden. But Benedict vowed when he resigned that he
would accept the path the Holy Spirit chose for him and the church, and
this is that path."