Whatever religion you are, there is no denying that Pope Francis is changing the world. He became the first Jesuit pope and the first non-European pope in more than 1,200 years. He is outspoken and not afraid to go against the norm. Francis sees things in the now rather than the past. He is a breath of fresh air for the world.

He is a simple man with simple thoughts that many see as complex. He chose to honor St. Francis of Assisi when choosing his name, showing his prominence on the poor and simplicity. Prior to his first blessing as Pope, he dressed in a white vestment (rather than the flashy Papal clothing) and asked the crowd before him to pray for him.

Although Pope Francis is 78 years old, he is still very active and hands-on. He has been known to take the bus for transportation. If he is not taking the bus, he is in a very conservative car. While driving through Italy one day, the pope saw a disabled woman on the side of the road admiring his motorcade. Pope Francis asked the driver to pull over. He then got out of the car and blessed the woman and kissed her. A friend of the disabled was astounded by the gesture.

He is the modern world and continues to push others to move forward. Pope Francis has his own twitter account that he tweets on in different languages. He is the first pope to do this. Francis participated in a Google Hangout with disabled children around the world. He encouraged the children to communicate and share with others our thoughts.

“When you communicate, you give the best you have inside, and you receive the best from others, and that is very important. When we don’t communicate, we stay alone with our limitations, and that is bad for us.”

Pope Francis encourages everyone, especially the Catholic Church, to accept and embrace everyone for who they are, not for what they have. Pope Francis has openly said that the Church should accept gays and lesbians. We should love everyone as God has loved us. Francis has also gone against the tradition of the Church by saying that we should accept divorcees with open arms. Everyone has a different story and situation.

“We find many families in irregular situations around us. And this poses many questions: How can we help them? How can we accompany them? How can we accompany them so the children do not become hostages to their father or mother?”