3 © The Author(s) 2018 A. J. Lyon et al. (eds.), Pope Francis as a Global Actor, Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71377-9_1 CHAPTER 1 Eluding Established Categories: Toward an Understanding of Pope Francis Alynna J. Lyon, Christine A. Gustafson, and Paul Christopher Manuel Pope Francis scrambles our categories. In a very short time, he has man- aged to change the way many view the role of the church, and perhaps even the role of religion in politics. The 266th pope is distinct from other popes in several regards. He is the frst Jesuit pope, the frst from the Global South, the frst from the South American continent, the frst to “tweet,” as well as the frst non-European pope in 1200 years. In 2013, he received accolades from popular culture and was named Time magazine’s “Person of The Year.” 1 He is also the frst to take “Francis” as his papal name, invoking Saint Francis of Assisi. In harmony with that ffteenth- century Italian saint, we can clearly see an emphasis on both the poor and the natural world under Pope Francis. Indeed, the motto he chose for his pontifcate, Miserando atque eligendo, may be translated into A. J. Lyon (*) University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA C. A. Gustafson Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH, USA P. C. Manuel American University, Washington, DC, USA