There is an old joke about Jesuits: “A humble Jesuit? A rarity. A Jesuit Pope? An impossibility. A humble Jesuit Pope? A miracle!”

Pope Francis’s pontificate has been both improbable, and in its own way, miraculous. From his first public words, “Buona Sera” (good evening) to the crowds cheering his election and the new pope asking them “to pray to the Lord that he will bless me,” this has been a papacy of surprises.

Francis’s recent 38-day hospitalization for double pneumonia, which included two near-death incidents, is a reminder that his years of leading the Petrine ministry will eventually end. While the world prays this will not happen soon, the 88-year-old Pope acknowledges: “I have lived a long life — longer than my parents, longer than my brothers and sisters.”

Since this column is being published during Holy Week, it is appropriate to reflect upon the legacy of this humble Jesuit pope. That legacy consists of four important pillars.

First, Pope Francis has opened the doors of the Catholic Church wide. Using the pope’s own words, “Todos, Todos, Todos,” he has asked “everyone” to be part of a community of believers.

That message includes those at the margins. Father James Martin, founder of the Outreach ministry for lesbian, gay and transgender Catholics, writes in an email to me that “Pope Francis has done more for LGBTQ people than all his predecessors combined. This is not a knock on any previous popes; rather, it is to say that his pastoral outreach has been nothing short of groundbreaking.”

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