Pope Francis is the cover of Time Magazine, he even boosted the business in the country.
You could call America the love child of faith and power. Never happily married, church and state for centuries flexed their muscles, fought their wars, until the Founding Fathers made peace: the Creator endowed inalienable rights, the constitution would guard them. And America grew rich and mighty, welcoming people of all faiths, favoring none, and hosting a 240-year workshop on the role of God in public life.
That genealogy felt especially relevant during Pope Francis’ first visit to the United States. Having called out the world’s superpower more than once for the sins of hubris and materialism, Francis presented himself as pastor more than righteous prophet. He got so busy taking selfies with school children on his first morning in Washington that he was 20 minutes late to the White House. There, the easy smile that lit his broad features among the children dissolved into a look of distant contemplation‹as if to say that the Almighty does not make political endorsements. When the Pope closed his remarks with the words, “God bless America,” it was a prayer, not a boast.
He came as a shepherd and was everywhere tending his flock, with the human touch that has enthralled even skeptics with little use for the larger church. He knows the art of an image: when he touched down in Washington, he left the tarmac in a small black Fiat, dwarfed among the ominous SUVs of the President’s motorcade. But the Pope is not Mother Teresa. He is tough, still sturdy at 78, intensely focused on making the most of his allotted time. He is also a shrewd politician; his early shuffling of the cutthroat ranks of the Curia are proof enough of that; he has kept the old guard of the Vatican guessing and off balance while quietly installing a vanguard of his own. (time.com)
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