A sense of joy pervades the country as the pope visits us. Most Catholics, indeed, most people are very happy Francis is visiting. And yet … most just can’t figure him out. Liberals think he is going to change the beliefs of the faith, clear out the attic so to speak, and conservatives, lots of conservatives, think he is going to betray the Catholic faith. But both are wrong.

He’s different from popes before. So what? In Cuba, he rather gently prodded the Castro government to open its doors to the Catholic faith and restore human rights. Some thought that soft. Actually, it was rather Jesuit of him, and he is a Jesuit. Theirs is the art of persuasion.

St. John Paul the Great was much different. He went to Poland and thundered at the Communist rulers, using words like lightning bolts. Both Francis and the sainted pope accomplish the same things with different methods. And there lies the answer to the mystery that is Francis.

Oh, he is bringing change. Our country will be talking about this visit for a long time. He will probably make some people angry. But the change he wants is one of attitude, not dogma. Neither Catholicism or what we believe is going anywhere. But we will be asked to look at our faith differently — from the bottom up not from the top down, from the eyes of the poor and forgotten not from an institution of bureaucracy.

Francis is a pastor; our past two popes were a philosopher and a theologian. One of the things that makes him such an electric figure is his “people power.” His homilies are practical, something your parish priest would say. It gets him into trouble sometimes when he speaks off the cuff.

His musings are grist for a media that basically hates the Church and sees this pope as getting rid of some of our most cherished beliefs. That’s why we all should be careful what the media say. Read the pope’s words for yourself, and then make up your mind.

This is a pope of mercy not laxity. He reminds us to give others Christ’s love and forgiveness, but he also reminds us sinners that with mercy comes repentance — so the sacrament of penance will always be a necessary thing.

Dogma is important to him, but people more so. He does not want Pharisees who talk a good game but have no real faith or feeling for others. The pope is living out that part of the Gospel that shows Jesus with the tax collectors and prostitutes and other great sinners of the day. It’s time to enjoy and learn from this new perspective.

Just last week, he told people that next to his chest is a cross from an Iraqi priest who was martyred for the faith by radical Islam. Why does he wear it? Said the pope, “It is a cross this priest had in his hands when he had his throat cut for refusing to renounce Jesus Christ.”

Sounds like the pope has his heart in the right place — pouring out his own life for Jesus. So put away the doubts, enjoy his preaching of the Gospel, and try to live the mercy he wants us to show to others. After all, he can’t be everywhere. He’s teaching us to be the face of Christ to others.