Online social activism isn’t limited to the under-35 set. There’s one older leader who has become famous for it: Pope Francis.
Over the last two years Pope Francis has famously connected with a younger generation of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. In his first year, Buzzfeed listed the “19 Best Pope Francis Moments of 2013” that included “When he took this amazing selfie” and “When he inspired men and women all over the world, regardless of their faith.”
“He’s not a regular pope. He’s a cool pope,” one college student wrote in the comments, which were universally glowing.
Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) June 19, 2015
Today Pope Francis has 6.55 million followers on Twitter, and that’s just for his English-language account. His 140 characters of wisdom get a huge response, like the 15,000 retweets and 18,000 favorites for a recent tweet: “Beware of getting too comfortable! When we are comfortable, it’s easy to forget other people.”
Although he connects to millennials in their lingua franca, he’s not afraid to challenge young people on their use of social media and digital communication.
The one who helps the sick and needy touches the flesh of Christ, alive and present in our midst.
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— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) July 23, 2015
In January Pope Francis warned about the ”speed with which information is communicated.” He said that today’s “great challenge” is learning how to talk to one another, not simply generating and consuming information.
“We need, for example, to recover a certain sense of deliberateness and calm,” he said. “This calls for time and the ability to be silent and to listen.”
“Information is important, but it is not enough,” Francis continued. “All too often things get simplified, different positions and viewpoints are pitted against one another, and people are invited to take sides, rather than to see things as a whole.”
His comments are striking because this is not a pope who is timid about speaking up and taking strong positions regarding social issues. Pope Francis both cautions and motivates advocates for social change. On one hand is urgency and dire need, on the other hand is patience and understanding.
Indifference towards those in need is not acceptable for a Christian.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) November 6, 2014
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Last October, for instance, he exhorted a group of activists to transform society and make history. He urged them to confront a long list of social problems including poverty; inequality; lack of work, land, and housing; the denial of social and labor rights; forced displacements; painful emigrations; human trafficking; drugs; war; and violence, just to name a few.
“You have your feet in the mud and your hands in the flesh,” he said. “You have the odor of neighborhood, of people, of struggle!”
Francis’ Twitter account—@Pontifex—constantly reiterates that message.
This article appeared as a sidebar to the feature story titled 'Instant activism' in the September 2015 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 80, No. 9, page 12–17).
Image: Flickr cc via Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
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