The Legacy of Pope Francis

Pope Francis died after managing the Roman Catholic church for 12 years. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis entered history as the first pontiff in Latin America, the first Jesuit and the first to take his papal name of Saint Francis of Assisi, a saint who dedicated his life to the poor. When Francis became Pope, he took over the Roman Catholic Church at a time of crisis. The church was shaken by sexual abuse office scandals, the fall in attendance, a disastrous shortage of priests and requests for a greater role for women. After decades of conservative leadership, Francis has decided to direct the church in a new direction of inclusiveness – filling the leadership of the church with an ethnically diverse fan of bishops who shared his approach. His desire to discuss once the subjects taboo in the church was one of his greatest achievements, opening doors that had been sealed. Francis was first criticized when he approached sexual abuse scandals involving the clergy, supporting the accused bishops and publicly doubting certain victims. But after speaking with survivors of sexual abuse, Francis adopted new rules to hold religious leaders, including bishops, responsible. However, Francis did not adopt the level of transparency that many defenders had hoped. Francis’ position was less clear on LGBTQ issues. While rejected homosexual marriage, he called on priests to welcome non -traditional relationships between gay men, lesbians and unmarried couples that lived together. Francis tried to move the Church’s goal to global problems such as climate change, poverty and migration. The conservative Catholics clashed with Francis on his less than traditional leadership style and accused him of diluting the teachings of the church. But his supporters will remember him for his desire to open questions for the debate and his attempt to introduce a lasting change.