How I Came to Like Pope Francis

Although my mother wrote "Catholic" in one of my recent real estate forms with conviction, I simply am not. Although I conform to their way of prayer and going to church, I am doing so out of a desire to obey. I am a Born Again Christian, and though I believe Catholics are Christians, too, there are many aspects of the system that I can't adhere to.

One of them is the concept of a "Vicar of Christ" or a person who represents Jesus on earth. Jesus is not absent in the first place and doesn't need a proxy. If there's a "Vicar of Christ," it should be the Holy Spirit.

Source: http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org

Since the concept is not in the Bible, I cannot subscribe to the idea in peace. The same goes for apostolic succession.

That doesn't mean I don't view Pope Francis as a godly Christian leader. In fact, in my eyes, he is that. I expect him to be that.

I was initially touched when I found out he wanted to visit the typhoon victims in Tacloban. Pope or not, I believe this is a good example to follow when it comes to loving the poor. But to be completely honest, I considered that it could be just another publicity stunt for popularity.

I guess I've been a doubting Thomas.

So yesterday, when he arrived in the country, despite my sister's excitement, I feigned nonchalance and continued doing my basic Pilates. Which is very hard, by the way. Oh the things you do for love.

And I digress. Anyway, so the Pope arrived and the crowds on TV were cheering. Almost every post on my social media feeds was about him. Then he finally stepped out of the plane and his cap was blown by the wind. I smiled and my tween sister couldn't stop laughing.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

I must admit that he seems to radiate godliness when you look at him. I was touched when I saw him hugging the little boy. He must be genuine after all. Of course, my skeptical self quickly caught up and I thought maybe, again, this was just a popularity stunt.

Why did I keep accusing the Pope of this? It's because I judged him through the articles written about him. Articles that portray him as a Pope who was willing to compromise what is written in the Word to be popular. Which, in hindsight, could be incorrect. In my judgmental eyes, I was convinced that you couldn't just believe that a person is godly based on what you see.

Then the irony hit me like a ton of bricks.

I came to like the Pope not because of what he did and not because of what I read or heard or saw. It's because of what God clearly told me that afternoon.

My opinion was that "... you couldn't just believe that a person is godly based on what you see." How hypocritical of me. If I shouldn't like a person based on what I see, what made me think judging was any different? I shouldn't judge a person based on what I see because I cannot see his heart. Only God can. I need to be wary of declaring people as inauthentic in their faith just the same as I need to be wary of believing anything thrown at me.

In other words, I should be slow to judgment and criticism. Instead, I need to be more compassionate and believe in the goodwill of people - or believe in the presence of goodwill in the first place. Those were the words God spoke to me when I knee-deep in judging and criticizing.

Pope Francis had been an undeserving victim of my unfair prejudice. With that said, let me clarify that I look up to him as a Christian Church leader, nothing more and nothing less. But now I truly want to believe in his goodwill and godliness and that he doesn't have agenda other than bringing the Light of Christ to those who need it.

I only hope the people view him as a human leader, not as someone divine, certainly not God.

What are your thoughts on his visit?