Francis began his pontificate on the feast day of Saint John in 2013. An inspiration for world leaders like Obama, he is also appreciated by the Church's critics who love more his ways than his words, treated as slogans more than ideas. He chose Francis so that the poor be the focus. As he enters the third year of his pontificate, he will face crucial moments, like the Synod on the family but especially the Jubilee of Mercy, whose impact will be felt both within and without the Church. The same is true for his reform of the Roman Curia.

Rome (AsiaNews) - Two years after he celebrated his first Mass at the start of his pontificate, Pope Francis can claim are impressive statistics, outshining sometimes even beloved Pope John Paul II. Indeed, for him, everything is on the up and up.

Surveys show that Italians and US Catholics give him an almost 90 per cent approval rating. And in two years, some 15 million people have come to see him. His twitter account is followed by about 19 million people (in various languages).

His capital of sympathy is also going strong among world media and world leaders, most of whom - with few, albeit significant exceptions - want to meet him.

Taking his cue from the pontiff, US President Barack Obama said, "'How can it be,' he wrote, 'that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?'"

People like Francis, especially those who are far from the Church, those who are critical of the Church, who see it as an "institution", a source of "power" and "oppression,"  see more his deeds than his words, treated as slogans more than ideas.

Like his "Who am I to judge?" which he said in response to a reporter's question on 28 July 2013 on his flight back from Rio de Janeiro. What he said before and after - "If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this in a beautiful way" - is often omitted, as are other statements, like when he said that Jesus is "the only gate" for entering into the Kingdom of God and "all the other paths are deceptive, they are not true, they are false."

Naturally, most practicing Catholics like him. We can now see that what he said two years ago, during that ceremony, has somehow become an agenda.

" Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God's people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important".

This is why "He chose the name Francis because the poor are the focus of his attention," said Fr Federico Lombardi, head of the Vatican Press Office. "We know that his notion of the poor is a very broad one," and includes everyone who is "violated in his or her dignity, not only from an economic point of view, but also from the standpoint of spiritual poverty of social relations, and so on."

"Francis pays close attention to this, and has publicly focused on many significant aspects of human dignity, problems like migration, refugees, the new slavery, organ and human trafficking, marginalisation of the elderly and the sick . . ."

More recently, as he has said several times along with his pleas for peace, the pontiff has also spoken out against people "killed because they are Christian", killings that "the world is trying to hide."

As he has repeatedly pointed out, these Christians are not only Catholics. So all of them partake in what he has called the '"ecumenism of the blood," something that might show the way to overcome old divisions, and took on a particular relevance during his meetings with Patriarch Bartholomew in his trips to the Holy Land and Turkey.

As he begins the third year of pontificate, the Holy Father will face crucial tests, like the Synod on the family, the Jubilee of Mercy, which is expected to have a major impact on the Church and beyond, and the planned reform of the Roman Curia.

All three can expect to generate some controversy. Nevertheless, this should not change the pope's popularity around the world or diminish the affection the faithful have for a pontiff who came "from the end of the world." (FP)

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