Pope Francis — "Don’t forget the smile. The smile is important."
Don’t forget the smile. The smile is important.
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About Pope Francis (born 1936)
First Latin American and Jesuit pope (2013-), who has steered the Catholic Church toward pastoral inclusion on LGBTQ pastoral care, divorced Catholics, and climate. Closely associated with Pope John XXIII (the Vatican II reformer pope) and Cardinal Walter Kasper (his theological ally on pastoral reform). For an intellectual contrast, see Cardinal Raymond Burke, American traditionalist cardinal, former head of the Vatican Apostolic Signatura — Burke is the public face of Catholic traditionalism that views Francis's pastoral approach as doctrinally dangerous — he has formally challenged Amoris Laetitia and other Francis reforms.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
A smile signals warmth, openness, and genuine care for the person in front of you. It costs nothing but communicates welcome, dignity, and compassion instantly. In a world of rushing, distraction, and coldness, this is a call to remain present and human. Small gestures of joy are not trivial — they are the actual substance of how we treat one another, more honest than formal words.
Relevance to Pope Francis
Jorge Mario Bergoglio built his ministry among Argentina's poorest communities before becoming pope. He is famous for breaking Vatican protocol to embrace the sick, disfigured, and marginalized — physically reaching out where predecessors kept formal distance. His papacy centers on mercy as lived behavior, not doctrine. For Francis, a smile is pastoral action: it signals that every person encountered has worth and is truly seen, not processed.
The era
Francis became pope in 2013 amid Catholic Church scandals, collapsing attendance in the West, and a global loneliness epidemic accelerated by smartphones and social media. Institutional religion felt distant and procedural to millions. His consistent emphasis on personal warmth — hugging, eye contact, simple human gestures — was a deliberate pastoral strategy to reanchor faith in direct human encounter rather than hierarchy or formalism.
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