At this point, we all know who Pope Francis is. He is the 78-year-old Argentinian-born Pope that lives in Vatican City, is fluent in many languages, likes to kiss babies and bless the disabled and is single-handedly turning the Catholic Church and the world as a whole on its head. Did I mention he visited America recently?

Francis is a global phenomenon and a walking contradiction. Some atheists actually like the guy. Some Christians do not like the guy. His recent trip to the United States whipped up enough mass hysteria and public interest to make a Kardashian jealous. What would the Pope say? Who would he talk to? What kind of pope-clothes would he wear? The media absolutely ate up anything relating to the Pope while he was here.

Coming from a poor background, Francis advocates better treatment of the disadvantaged and distraught. He is by all means a socialist, a man preaching equality, but he lives one of the most high profile and potentially lavish lives in the world. He is the radical leader of a church known for its traditional and conservative values. None of it makes sense, really, but he is here, and he is stirring the pot all over the world.

But what is he actually trying to do?

In America, Francis spoke on climate change, the downfalls of capitalism and nuclear deals. He spoke a lot of politics.

This inevitably leads to some issues here in the United States. Separation of church and state is kind of a big deal in America, so why is a major religious leader coming in and talking about stuff that we wish our members in Congress would actually talk about?

He ruffled a lot of feathers, but a lot of people thought everything he said was necessary. Something just does not feel right to me, though.

Pope Francis is a good guy, do not get me wrong. He is a humble man in a traditionally prideful role who loves the poor and wants the best for everybody. He is changing the views of non-Catholics to the point where it seems that everyone loves his ideas except for some Christians. When the leader of a strict religious group starts talking about LGBT rights and other hot-button topics, there is bound to be much debate in the religious realm.

He almost seems too liberal. The man can believe whatever he wants, but it seems that the Church is going to be heading in a much different direction in the near future and it is difficult to see where it will be going.

I believe in showing love and kindness to all. It is great that the Church will be doing more for the poor and it is even a good thing that they will be more accepting of those with different beliefs. Christians and Catholics are meant to show love to all, even if they disagree on beliefs and ideals. Francis is bringing a much-needed dose of love and care to the Catholic Church.

However, he must realize that liberalizing the Church to any extent will be messy and may not always be a good thing and mixing religion and politics is an even more daring quest. As a man that believes in the Bible, his views should be in line with the rules it sets out and some of his beliefs seem to be a little out of line with the book.

I have much respect for the Pope and I am not knowledgeable enough about the Catholic Church and their beliefs to make any solid arguments about how his personal beliefs may conflict with the beliefs of the Church, but it would be wise for people to step away from the papal hysteria to examine what is actually going on.

The media is very favorable of the pope’s beliefs and it seems only good things have been said about him. Many Americans are also favorable of him, but it is safe to assume that many Americans are perhaps not as knowledgeable about the whole Pope movement as they think they are. No ill-will towards anyone and people can believe whatever they desire, but people should be more careful concerning all of this hype surrounding Pope Francis.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer. They are not directly the opinions of The Slate, its staff or Shippensburg University as a whole. Concerns or letters to the editor can be sent to shipspeaks@gmail.com.

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