Pope Embraces Man with Rare Genetic Disease | Neurofibromatosis | LiveScience.

Compassion requires courage, particularly at this level. The man the pope embraced and kissed on Wednesday suffers from Neurofibromatosis, a condition I’d never heard of before reading this article. In a word, he’s hideous, the sort of man most of us would be much more likely to recoil from than hug. It’s not his fault, of course–but if I saw him on the street, I don’t know that I’d have the courage to look him in the eye.

I’m no great fan of the Catholic church, but this gives me hope. The leader of a major world religion must be the real deal–and from the looks of things, Pope Francis is exactly that.