Pope Francis — "Please, I ask you, be shepherds with the smell of sheep, be shepherds in the mid…"
Please, I ask you, be shepherds with the smell of sheep, be shepherds in the midst of your flock, fishers of men.
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More from Pope Francis
"A little bit of humor helps us to carry on."
"Don’t forget the smile. The smile is important."
"The Church is not a customs office."
"Proselytism is solemn nonsense."
"Hypocrisy is the devil's preferred language."
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
Religious leaders must be so present with their people that they carry their community's reality with them—like a shepherd who actually smells like the flock. Don't manage from a comfortable distance. Be embedded in the daily lives of those you serve, sharing their struggles and joys. Leadership means proximity, not prestige. The phrase 'fishers of men' echoes Christ's call to actively draw people in, not wait for them to arrive.
Relevance to Pope Francis
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, before becoming pope, rode public buses in Buenos Aires, cooked his own meals, and regularly visited the city's shantytowns personally. He rejected the bishop's residence for a modest apartment. After his 2013 election he refused the Apostolic Palace, living instead in the Vatican guesthouse. This quote is autobiographical—it describes how he actually led, and it became his signature challenge to a clergy he saw as insulated from ordinary people.
The era
Francis delivered this at his inaugural homily in March 2013, weeks after Benedict XVI's unprecedented resignation. The Church was absorbing years of clergy sexual abuse scandals, Vatican financial corruption revelations, and steep membership declines across the Western world. Widespread anger targeted clerical privilege and institutional detachment. His demand for pastors who smell like sheep was a direct rebuke of the clericalism many Catholics blamed for allowing institutional failure to go unchecked.
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