On the fourth day we moved class outside to go see Pope Francis give a speech in The Vatican Square. I found the event rather interesting because it wasn’t exactly what I expected. He did act a lot like a state leader/president but he also seemed like a celebrity in my opinion.
To me it seemed like Pope Francis is as much of a franchise as he is a religious leader. When walking around both Italy and The Vatican you tend to see a ton of clothing products, refrigerator magnets, and other merchandise. I find this very interesting because it is a very good move on the side of The Catholic Church. By introducing a new popular leader they will most likely gain more converts and money from them. Pope Francis is also somewhat radical compared to those before him. He rides through parades and crowds without a glass shield, he isn’t materialistic, and he has done some crazy things like excommunicating The Mafia.
The Pope is considered the most influential religious leader there is because he is basically the leader of Christianity (excluding protestant denominations) which is the most popular religion in the world. However, even me as a protestant enjoyed hearing him speak. The Pope is celebrated as a leader because Popes are considered to be the next Peter, who was a very important figure in the Bible. In the Bible, Jesus gives Peter the keys to the gate of Heaven and Peter passed them on. Eventually this passing on of the keys turned into the inauguration of a new Pope.
Later in the day we went to the US Embassy. Embassies are small parts of land given to foreign countries and used by their diplomats to conduct international relations. Once you step on to the grounds of an embassy you are considered to be on that country’s soil. The US emissaries present at the embassy we went to told us a lot about their job but the most interesting part was hearing about how Pope Francis has been working with other countries to reach out to those in need. This is really important because he is such an influential person and he could do more than just about any other man could. It is likely that he will do some great things involving IR in the future.