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It was a sign of mankind that suppressed his papacy that Pope Francis appeared in public to offer Easter blessings and to shift St. Peter’s Square when his voice and body were failing – less than 24 hours before his passage. Just weeks after he approached the hospital death with double pneumonia, the Pope was able to end his service as he began: among the people. Catholics and many non-Catholics will mourn a compassionate reformer who tried to modernize his church, even if the results would fall less of what his most progressive supporters hoped.
His modesty and determination to be a voice for the poor and the marginalized was one of some things that marked it from many ancestors. The first non-European Pope for more than 1,000 years, and first from America, chose to live not in the glorious papal apartment, but in a two-room Vatican guest house. Not for nothing he took the name of St. Francis of Assisi, known for his humility.
While Francis did not change the doctrine in matters of sexuality, trust and marriage, he shifted the tone and language of discussion to emphasize the need for tolerance and understanding. His early comment in answer to a question about the presence of homosexual priests in the church, “Who am I to judge?” paved the way for his 2023 approval of informal blessings for couples of the same sex. His counseling for 2016, The love of happinessraised the possibility of allowing some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communities. After a worldwide consultation, Francis began with the believers – for the dissatisfaction of the traditionalists – the closing document recommended expanding the role of women and people in the church.
In a church fighting for importance in the modern world, Francis also tried to make it more a moral voice on issues beyond family and bedroom. In a 2015 encyclical he tried to redefine climate change in terms of religion and belief, warning that he was a product of the world’s developed dependence on consumption while disproportionately impacting the poor in the world. He made open interventions in support of migrants, amidst the strengthening of American and European attitudes against irregular migration and spoke about his concern about conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
After all, however, Francis failed to translate his personal magnetism into reforms that resolved key questions such as the ordination of women or married priests, or who arrested the fall of the Church in Europe and North America. He made some mistakes of judgment against individuals, including some accused of serious crimes such as financial behavior or sexual abuse in the church – some scam will feel that he did not do enough to rest. He also left the church facing considerable financial strains that need to be addressed.
The Pope managed to secure both liberals, failing to make decisive changes, and the conservatives who accused him of undermining traditional lessons. These divisions will continue what is set to be a difficult competition for its success. Today’s Catholic Church is increasingly, in terms of membership, one from the global south, and the cardinals will face pressure to choose another pope from beyond Europe, and a sensitive to poverty and environmental issues. However, many churches and worshipers, from the global south are also social conservatives-in contrast to some of the best liberal followers in the richest countries.
Another pope, regardless of his background or talent, may have a little easier to solve the deep questions that Catholicism faces. But Pope Francis must be remembered for the modernization progress he made and the attempt to live the Gospel teachings on the side wall with the needy and the oppressed. His personal example was probably his most powerful heritage.
