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Pope Francis' papacy began with a simple greeting, but a powerful message: I am one of you. The former janitor and nightclub bouncer became the first Jesuit pope, the first from the New World and the first pope ever to take the name Francis �� in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, who devoted his life to the poor. The significance of that decision was profound in the view of theologians from the College of the Holy Cross and Boston College. “I think he's also making a statement about what the heart of the Catholic Church is and what the real heart of the Christian message is, and it's to reach out to the poor and also go to the margins,�� said Mat Schmalz, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross.“Early on, he talked about the need for a church that people could feel close to, and so he uses words like proximity, he talks about the pastors smelling like the sheep �� really being close to people. And he even has this image of church as a field hospital, the place that's there where people need it most,�� Boston College Fr. Mick McCarthy said.Pope Francis made good on his dedication to the less fortunate �� washing the feet of prisoners, embracing the marginalized and often rising in an open-air car instead of the bullet-proof popemobile so he could be closer to the people, stepping out, to shake hands and share an embrace.“Everything that he says, he focuses on discipleship, which is another way of talking about following Jesus and following Jesus to places where there is darkness and where people need the light of the gospel. And so he consistently talks about going to the peripheries. This should be a church that goes out because what it means to be a Christian is to be a person who goes out to the margins,�� McCarthy said.Francis also eased the hard stance the church previously held on homosexuality, saying, "A gay person who follows God, who am I to judge him." He also declared zero tolerance for the clergy sex abuse crisis that has plagued the church for decades.“Pope Francis is very much aware, as we all are, as I am as a Catholic, that the Catholic Church has made grave mistakes in its history. The sexual abuse scandal being, you know, one of the most grievous wounds the Catholic Church has ever suffered or inflicted upon itself. So I think his attitude about mercy, about forgiveness, about inclusion of victims and their narratives in the life of the church is very important,�� Schmalz said.Video below: Former Boston reporter witnessed Pope's Easter blessingNo matter what direction the church decides to take after Francis, his legacy will stand the test of time.“He was going to be a pope who did stress ... love of all creation and the need to care for all creation as an important part of Catholic teaching ... across many different religions and among people who don't profess a particular religion,�� McCarthy said.“And I think what Pope Francis was really concerned about was reaching out to people within the context of their daily lives, but also not forgetting people who are on the margins. Because I think what he believed was that you can see the center much more clearly, actually, from the margins than from when you are inside the center itself,�� Schmalz said.