Today 12 years have passed since Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff and the first Jesuit to lead the Catholic Church. His election, on March 13, 2013, marked a before and after in the recent history of the Church, with a papacy characterized by his focus on the poor, social justice and institutional reform. However, this anniversary arrives at a time of concern for the faithful, since the Supreme Pontiff is hospitalized in Rome, facing challenges that have pause their agenda.
Before being hospitalized, Pope Francis was facing the resistance of some of his own cardinals to close the gap in Vatican’s finances. For this reason, three days before being admitted, Francisco ordered the creation of a new high -level commission to promote donations to the headquarters of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion members.
This is one of the many proposals for reforms for which Francisco has worked during his papacy. Because he has been classified as a “revolutionary” for supporting changes as a more open and modern church. “Pope Francis has done much in a world that requires truly positive leaderships. Francisco at 88 and with 12 years of pontificate has promoted multiple reforms and has worked to open a church to a different world, a new world, being a reference of compassion and also renewal ”said Santiago Andrés Sierra González, Ph.D. and professor and researcher at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Javeriana University.
His great reforms
Francisco’s leadership has been characterized by addressing and making decisions about issues that were always of great distance for the Vatican and his pilgrimage.
Among those uncomfortable causes in which he took position was in the inclusion of the LGTBI community, The Pope sent a message of support to this population, when he approved in 2023 that Catholic priests can administer blessings to same -sex couples, as well as couples in a “irregular” situation, as long as these blessings are not part of a ritual or liturgy of the church.
He also worked to combat and eradicate pedophilia within the institution, because during his pontificate complaints about this case were known in countries such as Germany, the United States and Ireland.
As for corruption, it generated several reforms. He promoted in 2022 a reorganization of dicasteries (ministries) and prioritization of evangelization. Also, he renewed the Vatican’s finances that were often in question by several scandals. To deal with this, he created in 2014 a secretariat for the economy and the application of an investment framework and measures to fight corruption. In addition, he gave the green light to the readjustment of the Vatican Bank with the closure of 5,000 accounts.
In other of the causes he has promoted, there is to include women in leadership positions within the curia, as in the Dicasteria for the laity or the Economy Council.
Francisco has also been a promoter to weave brotherhood ties with other religions, so he made a historical visit to Iraq in 2021 to dialogue with Islam.
