Genesis

I am a lapsed Catholic and don't have much time for the Catholic faith pretty much due to their rampant self serving hypocracy.

BUT this new Pope seems a right good 'un. He is heavily into helping the poor (unlike the Catholic church which seems hell bent (if you'll excuse the pun) to hang on to its riches), he eschews all the trappings of papaldom and prefers to travel economy rather than by Lear jet, takes the bus over a limo and is complaining of his ostentatious living accommodation.

He is a superb ambassador for the Church and no doubt he will many people over. Good on him.

madao

I see he came down from his balcony and went walkabout to meet the crowd yesterday too.

He certainly seems more switched on to the fact that the image of the church and the pope's role in it needs improving. Getting the media on side first is probably the best way to make it happen.

Properly fronting up over the child abuse, changing views on Condoms and gay marriage is maybe a bit much to expect at this stage but fair play he's giving it a good crack so far.

?

Charismatic

We'll see, I think he'll struggle to convince educated people religion is relevant to them and their lives. Especially with atheism taking such a foothold now, he is 50 years too late to reform the church.

BEVS

He's been reading up on HM, the Queen's 'How To' guide.