It is no secret that Pope Francis is turning heads with absolutely everything he does. Whether he’s turning down luxury accommodations to change his clothes in a Burger King restroom or stopping his car to bless and kiss the disabled woman sitting on the side of the street, the world is watching. He constantly acts with humility and compassion, and he is no stranger to straying from the norm. He’s spreading a message of love rather than judgement and condemnation, maintaining a progressive agenda, and his influential claims and actions are reforming both the Church and its followers. So, although there’s millions of reasons the world admires this leader, here are just 20 different rationales for Pope Francis’ international popularity.

1. He chose his papal name in order to honor St. Francis of Assisi, who is famous for his humility and austerity.
2. The Pope continues to live up to his reputation, often forgoing the luxurious perks of his position. When elected Pope in 2013, he flew to Rome in economy class.
3. He passed up the opportunity to live in the Apostolic Palace, the official papal residence, in order to live in the Vatican guest house, alongside the workers, and so he could freely receive visitors and hold meetings.
4. Often times, the Pope will eat in the Vatican cafeteria with the local workers.
5. He is the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first Non-European pope in over 1,200 years.
6. In his most recent encyclical, (aka a papal memo to the Catholic Church’s bishops), he primarily discussed environmental issues, lambasting humans’ participation in global warming. He stated that Christians “must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the Earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”
7. He advocates a message of tolerance and acceptance, especially towards the LGBT community. When asked about homosexuality, he responded, “If someone is gay, and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
8. Pope Francis has worked tirelessly to eliminate any corruption that clouds the Church. He set up an extensive inquiry into the operations of the Vatican bank, in order to rid its reputation as a secretive tax and money laundering system. Also, he immediately sent any workers home who were guilty of exploiting the Church’s money.
9. In an effort to reform the Church and halt any alleged money laundering to the mafia, Pope Francis publicly spoke out against organized crime, even naming one of the most dangerous Mafia groups, the Ndrangeta. He then excommunicated several members of the Mafia that were directly linked to serious corruption within the Catholic Church.
10. For the Catholic Church’s upcoming, “Year of Mercy,” Pope Francis announced that women who have had an abortion may seek forgiveness from priests during the next year.
11. He admonished other Latin American priests that had objected to the baptizing of children born out of wedlock.
12. Pope Francis answered the long-standing question about our pets’ afterlife with these comforting words, “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”
13. He’s been known to sneak out of the Vatican at night to help the homeless.
14. For his 77^th birthday, he hosted four homeless men to a Mass and a meal inside the Vatican. #RagerWithThePope
15. The Pontiff is known as an incredibly avant-garde pope, not only for his progressive views, but he’s very up-to-date with the latest technology. He has his own Twitter account, (@Pontifex), and writes his own tweets, often in different languages, in order to communicate with the younger generations.
16. He once participated in a Google Hangout with disabled children around the world, where he encouraged children to communicate and share with others their thoughts and feelings.
17. Pope Francis has a master’s degree in Chemistry, and has both studied and taught literature, philosophy, psychology, and theology.
18. In college, he worked as a nightclub bouncer at a local bar in Buenos Aires, keeping the peace long before he became a pope!
19. He’s a huge fan of soccer, the tango, and all J.R.R. Tolkien novels, especially “The Hobbit.”
20. He also never shies away from a selfie with a fan.