It began when the Pope paid his bill. The day after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named the leader of the world's billion Catholics, he asked his driver to go back to the hotel in the Vatican where he'd been staying during the Congress of Cardinals, to pay his bill. The payment was completely symbolic of course. That hotel belongs to the Church, and the Church belongs to him. The Pope paid "because he was concerned about giving a good example of what priests and bishops should do." Paying a bill is a small but vital gesture — it is the most ordinary way that normal people fulfill their obligations. It was the first in a series of moves that have established Pope Francis I as, by far, the coolest, most interesting and potentially revolutionary Pope in memory.

It has now been a little over a hundred days since Francis took over the Vatican, but for Pope-watchers, the excitement has just begun. There is serious upheaval in the Vatican, with outsiders brought into major positions of power, and Francis speaking openly of "a current of corruption" in the Curia, but, as an atheist, I don't really care about any of that. I'm sure it takes guts and brains to try and reform the Church, but whether the Vatican is a strong or a weak institution is of the smallest possible concern to me. What is much more important is how he has used many small gestures to demonstrate the possibilities of compassion.

He has said that he believes priests should be "shepherds with the smell of the sheep" and he is living that way. He has, pointedly, not moved into the papal apartments, remaining at a cheap hotel where reportedly he eats breakfast with ordinary people. He refuses to take the papal limousine, traveling by minibus instead. More significantly, on Holy Thursday this year, Pope Francis became the first Pope in history to wash the feet of a woman. Not only did he wash the feet of a woman, but that woman was a Muslim. Not only was she a Muslim woman, she was a female inmate at a local prison. He has become famous in Rome as the "chatty" Pope, stopping to embrace children with disabilities. Recently after a kid with Down's syndrome pointed to the Popemobile, Francis gave him a free ride around Saint Peter's Square. He has a sense of humor, too. He's been known to give blessings to groups of Harley Davidson bikers.

These little gestures make a big difference. The Catholic Church may be the last major institution in the world that makes a coherent argument against total absorption in consumer capitalism. It was one thing to hear Benedict XVI talk about the poor — on a golden throne draped in ermine. It's quite another to hear it from a guy on the minibus who pays his bills.

Not that these little gestures will change the Catholic Church or its reputation overnight. Just this week, another scandal has erupted in the New York diocese, where Cardinal Dolan was caught moving church assets into shadowy accounts to prevent the victims of child abuse from knowing about 130 million dollars. Nonetheless, the Pope offers some real reasons for hope. He's even said that atheists, if we lead a good life, aren't necessarily going to hell. Which is nice, I guess. A measure of civility between the faithful and nonbelievers has been sorely lacking. He might even be able to bridge that chasm, which would in itself be a huge achievement. As a Catholic friend said to me, "He could be amazing. All he has to do is not get assassinated."

*This article originally stated that Pope Francis said, "The Carnival is over." This quote has turned out to be false. The article also said the Pope washed the woman's feet on Good Friday. It was Holy Thursday. We regret the errors.

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Stephen Marche Stephen Marche is a novelist who writes a monthly column for Esquire magazine about culture.

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