Chris Hayes declares Francis to be 'the best pope ever'

Chris Hayes of the MSNBC show "All In with Chris Hayes" said on Thursday that he thinks Pope Francis, who has only been in office for a few months, is the "best pope ever."

Francis has been calling and talking to individuals personally by phone. He has declared that atheists are not all doomed to burn in Hell forever. He has said, "Who am I to judge?" with regards to LGBT people.

"You know who I freakin’ love?" Hayes asked. "This new pope. Pope Francis. You know who I’m talking about, right? The pope. Are you watching this guy? Because you should be. It’s early, but I’m thinking...best pope ever."

Hayes was raised Catholic but stopped attending services in college. Pope Francis, he said, is restoring his hope for the institution of the church.

"Now, I don’t have a whole lot of hope that the Church itself is going to come around and change tenets or official positions that I deeply oppose -- its rejection of things like gay marriage, women in the priesthood, a woman’s autonomy over her own body," he wrote.

"But given the constraints of what being pope is, you can operate in one of two ways: you can be a jerk about it, or you can be awesome," he said. And Francis, "is choosing to be awesome."

Watch the video, embedded below via MSNBC:

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