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An estimated
1.5 million people are expected to join Pope Francis on September 27 for a celebration of the Mass at the culmination of the
World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. The massive gathering, plus the pope’s participation in the Festival of Families the day before, which is expected to draw close to 750,000 people, has led to the coining of the term “Popeapocalypse”.
Universities are closing, pilgrims are staking sleeping plots in the Philadelphia Zoo, the mass transit system is holding a lottery for train tickets and women expecting to give birth in the area are looking at traveling to other cities --
all in anticipation of Pope Francis's visit.
There is no other religious, entertainment or political leader alive today who could garner anywhere near the kind of response inspired by the pope -- a fact that leaves some people scratching their heads and wondering: why?
Why does the pope matter so much?
He's A Transnational Political Leader
As the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the pope occupies a position that no other religious leader can match. Most major religions do not have a hierarchical structure that clearly acknowledges one leader who embodies the tradition like the pope does for Catholicism. The pope is the head of a cohesive, transnational organization that has been in existence for close to two thousand years. The church has a chain of command from the Vatican all the way to the local parish that is capable of transmitting information, ideology and material goods throughout the world.
Contrast this with other religions that are mostly fragmented among many different sects, and leaders among them. And even among those that do have existing hierarchies, such as the Anglican Communion, the numbers do not compare to the estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
The influence of the Catholic Church is augmented by the status of the Vatican as an independent city-state that maintains diplomatic relations with countries around the world. As the leader of the Vatican, when the pope visits a country, it's not just as a religious leader, it is as a head of state. This sets the pope apart from most leaders, whether religious or political, aside from more ceremonial positions, such as the one held by the Queen of England, who is both titular head of the Anglican Church as well as of the Commonwealth but exerts little influence on either. The pope, on the other hand, is the clear authority behind both of these titles and able to wield influence that comes with it.
So much more to read:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-pope-francis-matters_55d370dee4b07addcb443e0c
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