On March 13 of this year, Jorge Bergoglio stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in the growing evening darkness. He had just been elected pope, the successor of Peter.

Because he had not been widely known in the media circles, many of us had not heard a great deal about him. And so we were left to ask, who is Pope Francis?

This past week, the Church and the world were given a solid and convincing answer.

Pope Francis spent last week in Brazil attending the 28th World Youth Day. His presence, his activities while in Brazil and his messages to youth and to the world have given us all much to think and pray about.

And they have given us all a renewed hope and encouragement to look inside ourselves and see how we can deepen our faith as Catholics and as followers of Jesus.

Several elements of Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Brazil impacted me in a particular way. I would like to share them with you.

The first has to do with the manner in which the Holy Father entrusted himself to the crowds.
Media reports showed unprecedented images of Pope Francis interacting with the crowds, kissing babies, shaking hands and accumulating soccer jerseys (a popular artifact in Brazil!). His car itself was stopped in traffic by the crowds.

What is striking is that the Holy Father is living before us his call to make the faith something alive. It is a conviction of life and a joy to be shared, not to be timidly kept among ourselves.

Its greatest mode of transmission is the one-on-one personal testimony of faith. As wonderful as some of the other moments were when the Holy Father, at some distance from the crowds, presided over the Way of the Cross or the closing Mass, he obviously wanted to live an image of the faith that does not wait, as he put it, for a knock on the door.

Rather, he has put in our own minds and hearts the need to reach out, to be active, to approach not just the likeminded but those also who stand at a distance or who are indifferent to Jesus Christ.

That leads to a second moment of the last week that I would call to our spiritual attention. It was the visit of the Holy Father to Varghina, described by the media as a violence ridden slum area of Rio.

It was not simply the Pope’s visit to an area most dignitaries would not risk. Rather, his talk to the people was one of friendliness, of familiarity.

The pope thanked the people of Varghina for making him welcome. Then he went on to remind all of us of the profound duty as friends of Christ to foster solidarity in the world. He reminded us to reach out to the poor and those on the margins of society because that is what Jesus showed us how to do.

But lest he be misunderstood as preaching only a human or social gospel, Pope Francis reminded the people of Varghina of what he called “fundamental pillars” that support genuine development in the world.

Those were life, family, integral education, health and security for all. These, he said, are part of the response to the hunger for God that we must recognize and defend.

Finally, Pope Francis made a visit to the Marian Shrine of Aparecida. The Holy Father tenderly held the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida. And he told us that “When the Church looks for Jesus, she always knocks at his Mother’s door and asks: ‘Show us Jesus.’ ”

A desire to reach out actively to pass on the faith, love for the poor, and deep devotion to Mary will guide our way to Jesus.

Last week gave us a deep and moving answer to the question, who is Pope Francis.