The most influential leadership moments we've seen from Pope Francis so far

On March 13, 2013, Jorge Bergoglio was named the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming the the spiritual leader to one-sixth of the world's population.

After adopting the name Pope Francis, the pontiff immediately broke tradition upheld by popes for more than a century by choosing to live more simply and forgoing the luxurious papal accommodations in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for a simple two-room apartment.

The Bishop of Rome continues to break the mold established by previous papal legacy and has been characterized as a humble man with diplomatic boldness and progressive views compared to his predecessors.

The pope's leadership style seems to resonate with people. In a Pew poll released earlier this year, nine out of ten American Catholics gave the Pope high marks, and 70% of Americans in general said they viewed him favorably.

Francis was named TIME's Person of the Year in 2013 "for pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world's largest church to confronting its deepest needs, and for balancing judgment with mercy."

Here we take a look at how Francis's career has shaped his role as an influential world leader:

 

He became known as 'Archbishop of the Slums.'

Jorge Bergoglio grew up in a lower-middle class area of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to an Italian-immigrant family. His childhood friends remember him as always having his head in a book, Austen Ivereigh, author of “The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,” told CNN.

Once a Jesuit provincial, or regional superior, in Argentina, Bergoglio was deeply committed to the poor, and he’s said to have worked “furiously” behind the scenes to secure the release of two priests captured and tortured by military forces during Argentina’s “Dirty War.”

As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio preferred to spend his downtime in the slums. “It nourished him, being with ordinary people,” one colleague told Ivereigh. During his tenure Bergoglio quadrupled the number of priests in the slums, lived in a small apartment, rode public transportation, and cooked his own meals. He became known to the people as the "Archbishop of the Slums.”

Once elected pope, Francis chose his name to honor Saint Francis of Assisi, an Italian Catholic friar who chose to live in poverty and had a special concern for the poor. “…Some priests grow dissatisfied, lose heart, and become in a sense collectors of antiquities or novelties — instead of being shepherds living with ‘the smell of the sheep.’ This is what I am asking you — be shepherds with the smell of sheep,” Francis said during the Chrism Mass two years ago.

He's eschewed extravagances and manages unchecked vanity.

Pope Francis is a man of modest taste.

He rejected the handmade red loafers that his predecessor was known for in favor of ordinary, black shoes. While Pope Benedict XVI most often used a Mercedes-Benz popemobile, Francis prefers to be driven in an old Ford Focus for trips within Vatican city. On the night of his election, he forwent the papal limousine and rode with some cardinals in a minibus back to their hotel.

In Francis' book, modesty shouldn't just apply to the pontiff.

During his Christmas greeting to the cardinals, bishops, and priests who served him two years ago Francis issued a blistering tongue-lashing of the Roman Curia, the papal court at the Vatican.

He attributed "15 ailments of the Curia" to the bureaucracy that runs the Vatican and expressed his desire to see the dysfunction rooted out by the new year.

Among other things, he accused the Curia of using their careers to grab power and wealth, of living "hypocritical" double lives, and suffering from "spiritual Alzheimer's" that made them forget that they're supposed to be joyful men of God.

Francis lamented how the "terrorism of gossip" can "kill the reputation of our colleagues and brothers in cold blood" and those living double lives are "typical of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that no academic degree can fill."

 

He manages a cabinet of global advisors.

In a church that some consider to be more Italian than global, Pope Francis is the first pontiff not to hail from Europe. As the New Yorker reports, there was a pervasive anti-Italian mood at the conclave to elect Benedict's successor, and US and Latin American cardinals were adamant in their wish for a clear change of direction.

They got their wish in Pope Francis.

In 1870, Pope Pius IX declared papal infallibility, meaning whenever the pope defines church doctrine concerning faith or morals, definitions must be adhered to with "submission of faith." The New Yorker posits that Pope Francis, however, who prefers to be referred to as the Bishop of Rome, chooses to run the church in a more global and democratic fashion.

This is evidenced in Francis appointing nine cardinals, with one from every continent, to his advisory committee. His economic oversight committee consists of fifteen people, including eight cardinals and seven laypeople, who possess equal voting rights. His auditor general has the power to audit any Vatican entity and reports directly to Francis.

For the first time for any Vatican department, Pope Francis also approved making the Secretariat for the Economy — the department of the Roman Curia that Francis established early last year to oversee all economic activities — officially bilingual in Italian and English, and English is the preferred language.

As Danny Casey, a financial manager who handles the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat, told the New Yorker, "English is the international language of business, so we can hire people from all over the world."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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