Pope-thusiasm!!

It’s been a while (sorry), but although time is not always on my side, I’ve realized it doesn’t always have to be. I love popular culture, maybe that and a little bit of time might just be enough ;) Therefore, I want to kick off a popular summer season with a bit I should have written a while ago, namely around Easter.

The pope has been around for centuries and believe it or not, has in my opinion become a face of popular culture. A sign on the wall may be that he has as many as 2450953 followers for his twitter account (@pontifex), maybe a modern standard for all round popularity. Either way, what he says and thinks about events is a cause for dialogue. Whether people believe in the church or not the pope is a world figure that is definitely taken into account.

For example Pope John Paul II, who reigned from 1978 to 2005, is known for his travels and his clear stances on world affairs such as the Iraq war and Apartheid. Although he was quite traditional he clearly loved humans.

Then there came Pope Benedict who had to deal with the reality of sexual abuse within the church. This sexual abuse became very mediatized around 2011. He was also quite conservative. He was also the pope with a flair for fashion and was not scared to add a spot of colour ;) After all he became Esquire’s ‘Accessorizer of the year’ in 2007.

 

He also re-instated the use of the papal red slippers, of which he even had a Prada slip-on pair.

He also loved to pull a hat out of his closet J  A surprising one was what is known as the camauro. This was an odd choice to say the least, and to be honest, he seemed to look a bit like Santa Claus. Charisma is not what he missed.

 

The future will only tell what surprise Argentinian Pope Franciscus will leave behind as legacy.