‘Take what you need and leave the rest’: why atheists love Pope Francis

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By Alana Massey

“If it’s interesting, pay attention. If you think it’s nonsense, look at other things.”

This was the Dalai Lama’s instruction to 65,000 people in Central Park in September 2003. The crowd likely heeded this command: though it featured its fair share of Tibetan Buddhists, many thousands came to see him out of curiosity, and out of respect for his universal moral leadership.

This week, when Pope Francis addresses an estimated million people in Philadelphia, his attendance is also likely to be more diverse than usual.

Though Catholics from around the world will descend on the US northeast to listen to their leader, crowds will be infiltrated by non-religious admirers. Quotable because of the simplicity of his speech and relatable because of the plainness of his gestures, Pope Francis ignites unprecedented secular excitement. He is admired in spite of his Catholicism, rather than because of it.

“I have not been a fan of the Catholic church for a long time. I would have avoided seeing a pope at all costs in the past. But I just think this is someone who is so enlightened and progressive,” said Dan Nainan, a comedian and corporate speaker who has tickets to attend mass in Central Park.

Nainan mentioned the pope’s remarks on LGBT issues and women as some of the more surprising comments that triggered his change of heart: “He is proposing things that you could never dream of coming from the Catholic Church. It isn’t enough for me to convert to Catholicism, but I’m excited to hear what he has to say.”

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