Chicagoans welcome #FlatFrancis to Daley Plaza

Maybe Pope Francis didn’t get too far from the East Coast during his Sept. 22-27 trip to the United States, but Catholic Extension’s “Flat Francis” helped Chicagoans welcome the pontiff.

On Sept. 22, staffers from Extension set up a freestanding version of the papal cutout on Daley Plaza at Washington and Dearborn streets with the iconic Picasso sculpture in the background and encouraged commuters and other passers-by to pose for a picture. “I’m big pals with Pope Francis,” quipped Carrole Hollowaye, one of the first people to stop for a picture.

Lila Licea, who saw Pope John Paul II at Providence of God Parish, 717 W. 18th St., when he came to Chicago in 1979, said she wished Pope Francis could have come to the Windy City.

“I love that he’s so humble, so down to earth,” said Licea, who attends St. Pius V Parish, 1901 S. Ashland Ave. “You don’t see that in a regular priest, let alone the pope.”

Matthew Fischer came wearing a Jonathan Toews jersey in honor of the Blackhawks first preseason game after hearing Flat Francis would be there the day before.

“I’m a lifelong Chicago Catholic,” said Fischer, who attends Mass at several Lakeview and Lincoln Park parishes. “It seemed like it would fun.”

Catholic Extension is a papal society that supports the church and its ministry in 94 mission dioceses across the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1905 and still has its headquarters here.

Matt Paolelli, Extension’s manager of digital communications, came up with the idea last spring, based on the popular children’s book “Flat Stanley” and the myriad school activities that involve taking pictures of the book character in different settings.

“I was kind of looking for an easy way for people to express their connection to the church,” said Paolelli, who was out on the plaza taking pictures for people who stopped.

Extension commissioned artist David Lee Csicsko to make a simple cartoon drawing of Pope Francis and made it available for people to download and print out, with instructions to take “selfies” with it and post them on social media with the hashtag Flat-Francis.

As of Tuesday, more than 3,000 selfies with the paper pope had been shared, Paolelli said, with about 500 coming in the last week. Photos have come from all 50 states and include everything from Knights of Columbus to parish youth group activities. More than 50 people have posted Flat Francis with their bishops with their bishops, and well-known Flat Francis fans include comedian Jim Gaffigan and Chicago Bears announcer and former player Tom Thayer.

On Sept. 2, Pope Francis himself was photographed with the image when Extension President Father Jack Wall and Archbishop Cupich, Extension’s chancellor, brought a group of pilgrims from Catholic Extension to the Vatican.

When Wall showed Pope Francis the paper version of himself “he let out a belly laugh,” said Wall, who has a photograph of that meeting on his phone.

“Matt Herek, who is a musician at St. Benedict Parish, 2215 W. Irving Park Road, said he came mostly support Paolelli, a former coworker.

Other friends who know both of them and know he’s Catholic had been sending Herek pictures of themselves with Flat Francis, and he decided to join in. It helps, he said, that’s he’s Francis fan.

“He seems like a real pastor,” Herek said. “I like a pope who smiles, who will put on a clown nose.”