he has only become more popular and influential. According to one study, he is now the most

influential person on twitter with nearly 17 million followers, and an average of over

17,000

retweets per tweet he sends out in multiple languages. The question is - why? What has

Pope

Francis done to attain all of this popularity, and does a more influential pope really matter?

Well, he’s done a lot to bring the Catholic Church out of the dark ages and as a result,

he’s

pushing humanity as a whole forward in innumerable ways.

In science, he has accepted the theory of evolution and the Big Bang. In October 2014,

he

said, God is not “a magician with a magic wand,” and that “the Big Bang, which today

we hold

to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but

rather,

requires it.” His stance lessens some of the resistance to science, that many religious

groups

have had, making it easier for people to work in or teach the sciences.

The Pope has also softened the church’s stance on the LGBT community. In 2013 he said,

“If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them?” He also reaffirmed

that sentiment in 2014 by encouraging parents to accept their children no matter their sexual

preference. This is still a far cry from accepting gay marriage or allowing open homosexuals

into the priesthood, but it does do a lot to lessen the divide between Catholicism and

the LGBT

community.

Pope Francis has also made the topics of contraception and abortion less of a priority for the

church, insinuating that they should focus more on fighting poverty instead. He also

wants them

to focus more on protecting the environment, reforming the global economy and eradicating

sex

crimes and corruption within the church. This includes eliminating the influence of the

Italian

Mafia.

He also favors more casual daily mass held in public places. He lives in a guest home,

not

the Apostolic Palace. He cruises Rome in a normal car - not a bullet-proof Mercedes limo.

And

when he was elected, instead of blessing the people, Pope Francis asked the people to bless

him. Just recently, he also struck a note with animal lovers when he said “Paradise

is open to all

of God’s creatures.” This more personal and open approach is part of how he’s gained

so much

popularity. But fighting for good causes that affect all of humanity and modernizing the

church

itself to be less judgmental and exclusive is why Pope Francis matters.

For more on the shake ups in the Catholic church, check out our video on whether Catholic

priests might some day be allowed to marry. And please subscribe. We release new

videos 6 days a week. Thanks for watching.