It must confound public relations professionals watching Pope Francis’ just-completed visit to Brazil, his first overseas trip since assuming leadership of the Roman Catholic Church four months ago.

They must be mystified and miffed that Francis has become a sensation without benefit of their expertise and experience, scoring high marks without any visible PR strategy or spin.

The pope drew an estimated 3 million faithful Sunday for an open-air mass at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro — in all likelihood the largest public gathering in South America’s history, bigger even than Rio’s notorious Carnival street party, which attracted about 1.5 million in 2013, according to published accounts. That’s a major feat, given the internal strife and soul-searching not only within Brazil but also in the Catholic Church itself; indeed, the strain of public relations nightmares, such as the pedophile priests and Vatican bank scandals, prompted the unprecedented resignation of Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. All 264 previous popes had served for life.

Francis’s rock-star status wasn’t won on promises of ease or happiness to attract the faithful. He didn’t even offer much dramatic change in Catholic policy. Quite the contrary, he urged Catholics to focus on the poor and outcasts of society; he said the priesthood remained closed to women; and he denounced the “ephemeral idols” of money and power. Such messages make terrible platforms for political policy, and even worse public relations.

But the crowds showed up and celebrated with their pope, anyway. What they were celebrating — what shined forth this past weekend — was Francis’s love for people and for the God he joyfully serves.

He was surprisingly candid with the Vatican press corps during his return flight to Rome. Responding to a question about the so-called gay lobby inside the Vatican, Francis said he opposed any type of lobby that might try to influence his decisions. But he stopped short of his predecessor’s condemnation of homosexuality as a “disorder,” instead saying, “If a person is gay, seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge? They should not be marginalized.”

On the issue of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, suspected of being used to launder millions of dollars, Francis said he would heed the advice of a special oversight committee, but he did not know whether the bank could be saved or must be closed.

“Whatever the solution, it must have transparency and honesty,” Francis said.

Transparency and honesty, along with humility, are fast becoming synonymous with the charismatic pontiff. These are necessary traits for the leader of a tainted church attempting to restore integrity and authority in an increasingly skeptical world. That’s a tall order, but Francis thus far has demonstrated a knack for delivering on such an order.

Catholics worldwide would do well to rally behind the humble, energetic Jesuit priest from Argentina who refuses to wear the pope’s traditional red velvet slippers. He appears to be leading the church in a very noble direction.