What Happens When You Put a Sacred Leader and a Pop Culture Writer in the Same Room?

Rolling Stone’s Latest Model is a First for the Publication

Rolling Stone has finally featured a pope on their front cover for the first time ever, and it’s none other than the beloved Pope Francis. The article written by Mark Binelli explores why this pontiff stands out from the sequence of popes that came before him. Binelli discovers more about the gentle revolution spread across the world and delivers it exclusively to the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Binelli takes a calm and non-judgmental approach to the interview and even portrays Pope Francis as the “cool pope,” alluding to the anthem by Bob Dylan. This man is one religious political leader who is an expert of public relations, political savvy, and befriending the masses.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Pope Francis has graced the cover of a magazine. Publications have declared him ‘Man of the Year’ and ‘Person of the Year’ which landed him on the covers of Vanity Fair Italia and Time Magazine. Less than a week after these publications, The New Yorker also featured the well-liked Pope Francis.

Currently, perhaps the most surprising and unexpected of Pope Francis’ cover appearances has been on the front of The Advocate, a magazine completely focused on the LGBT community. In his statement to this magazine, he mentioned that if someone were to be gay, yet still seek goodwill from their Lord, then who would he be to judge? This expression was much appreciated by the LGBT publication and they too declared him ‘Person of the Year.’

The latest addition to the slew of publications from Pope Francis is this Rolling Stone feature. It demonstrates the Pope as one who is strictly for the people and speaks of how he is still going strong and steady at age 77. Indeed, it seems like “the times they are-a changing.”

One Haaretz writer is not impressed with the cover story and wonders “why ‘Cool Pope Francis’ but no rabbi makes the cover of Rolling Stone.”

Resources

• “Pope Francis: The Times They Are A-Changin'” – Rolling Stone
• “Pope Francis ‘Man of the Year’, says Vanity Fair”