Francis' legacy: a more open and more divided Church

RomeThe death of Pope Francis ends a twelve-year pontificate marked by unprecedented attacks from a conservative minority that will likely try to influence the election of his successor, but will not be able to erase the legacy of history's first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff.

In defense of migrants

From the outset, in March 2013, Pope Francis made the defense of migrants and refugees one of the pillars of his papacy. It's no coincidence that his first trip was to Lampedusa. From this Italian island, the destination for those who often risk their lives trying to reach Europe, the Argentine pontiff denounced the "globalization of indifference." He also visited Lesbos, the small Greek island converted into a refugee camp, returning to it in the midst of the migration emergency to experience firsthand the Mória refugee camp, a vast open-air prison.

Equality for Gays

"If a person is gay and seeks the Lord, who am I to judge them?" The phrase, uttered in July 2013, made the Pope a leader in gay rights. exaggerated expectations. In 2023, however, the Pope took a historic step by authorizing the blessing of couples in an irregular situation, including same-sex couples, meaning that priests can bless both gay couples and other people who have returned home. blessing could never be equated with that of ordinary marriage (understood as the union of a man and a woman), this openness caused much unrest among traditionalists

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The spring Francis, as some defined it in the Argentine pontiff's early reforming years, opened the doors of the Church to women. An inclusion that would not have been possible without the reform of the Vatican Curia, which was the first step toward allowing women to access leadership positions within Vatican structures. The new Apostolic Constitution, which was published in 2022 after eight years of work, allows any Catholic, including lay men and women, to lead most Vatican departments. However, once again the high expectations raised by the "feminist pope" ended up disappointing the progressive sector, which had perhaps hoped for more radical changes such as female ordination or the approval of women deacons. Nevertheless, this historic reform allowed Francis to appoint the Italian nun Raffaella Petrini as governor of Vatican City State in February, the highest position in the territory's civil administration.

Sexual Abuse

Chile, Ireland, the United States... The election of Francis did not stop the cascade of scandals that shook the episcopal conferences of half the world, suspected of having hidden sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy for years. In an attempt to curb this scourge, in 2019 he convened a historic summit at the Vatican that, among other things, promoted the abolition of the pontifical secret to encourage reporting of these cases, often ignored by local churches.

The Vatican summit, which was attended by victims of clerical pedophilia from all over the world with their witnesses, was the first step in a series of legislative reforms that toughened penalties for abusers, extended the statute of limitations, and introduced indemnities. It also imposed decree Priests and religious are required to immediately report any type of clerical violence to end the impunity of bishops who cover it up.

Vatican Diplomacy

During the first years of his pontificate, the Pope revolutionized Vatican diplomacy by promoting international leadership that made him the great mediator, with successes such as Barack Obama's thaw between Cuba and the United States or the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and the Holy See, but also failures towards the end of his papacy.

Francis died without having been able to influence the pacification of conflicts such as that in Ukraine or the genocide in Gaza, to which he dedicated his final Easter message: "May the fire cease, the hostages be freed, and aid be provided to the people, who are hungry and long for a future of peace."

Environmentalism

The defense of the "common home" was another pillar of his pontificate. He dedicated his first encyclical to it, Laudato si', published in 2015. Francis called for a "green revolution" and criticized "the irresponsible use of the goods that God has made available to humankind on Earth," while also reiterating his commitment to "integral ecology." Five years later, he introduced ecological sin into the exhortation he published following the Amazon Synod.