A few days ago the world stood stunned by the wondrous behavior of the Pope of Rome Francis when he got down on his knees, being a 82-year-old man with a chronic pain in his knees and lives only with the left lung. He did so and kissed the feet of the leaders of southern Sudan, kneeling with great difficulty and asking them to stop the civil war.
Before the pope did this strange act, he hid in a spiritual retreat for several days, and when he met them, he first prayed with them and gave them a spiritual talk: I ask you, as a brother, to remain in peace, I ask you this from my heart. There are many problems and conflicts among you, but they will not overcome us, keep them between you and solve them in quite. In front of people, put your hands together and seek unity. Then he kissed their feet. Social media had tons of comments between the opposition and the supporters.
Pope Francis, chose the name of his patron and intercessor St. Francis of Assisi, one of the early church teachers. During his meeting with journalists and media professionals, once said that he wanted a "poor church that defends the poor. When he was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1992 to be the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he refused to live in the luxury villa of the Archbishop and asked to live in a small apartment and refused to use a limousine reserved for him and used means of public transport instead!
When he became the Pontiff, had made many changes to the Papal tradition. For example, he kept the simple, cheap, iron cross that he wore and did not wear the golden cross worn by his predecessors. Moreover, he wore a simple white uniform instead of a luxurious red lapel. He also abolished the traditional rewards paid to Vatican officials after the election of the new pope, totaling several million euros, and donated them to charities.
In 2013, in an astonishing humility, he formed an advisory board of eight cardinals as an advisory council . They were asked to reconsider the Roman Catholic Constitution, the administrative, executive and advisory body, which was described by media as a revolution in itself because it was always secret and mysterious issues.
Pope Francis, who before his inauguration as head of the Catholic Church, used to go to the prisons, hospitals and homes of the poor and bow down and wash their feet, as Christ did with his disciples.
The Pope before the leaders of Southern Sudan wanted to be like the woman who broke the expensive bottle of perfume to wash the legs of Christ. He saw the war in southern Sudan killing about 400,000 people and about one-third of the country s 12 million people were displaced by civil wars, which caused the worst refugee crisis in Africa.
Let us all learn from this true Father who has given the world a living example of the servant of the true Christian who ignores his dignity to spread the fragrance of Christ.
