/
RSS Feed
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936, rose from humble beginnings to become a transformative leader of the Catholic Church. Initially working as a janitor and food technician, he joined the Jesuits in 1958 following a severe illness. Ordained in 1969, he became a prominent spiritual figure noted for his outreach in impoverished and crime-ridden areas of Buenos Aires. He was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
Elected Pope in 2013, Francis made history as the first Jesuit, Latin American, and non-European pope in over 1,000 years. His papacy was marked by progressive stances, including support for same-sex civil unions, environmental protection, and COVID-19 vaccination advocacy. He also promoted inclusivity, such as appointing the first African American cardinal from the U.S. and supporting women’s roles in the Church.
Despite declining health in later years, including hospitalization for pneumonia, Francis continued his duties until his death on April 21, 2025, at age 88. He was remembered for his compassion, humility, and commitment to social justice, earning global admiration throughout his pontificate.
Pope Francis’s papacy, beginning in 2013, is marked by his efforts to create a more inclusive and compassionate Catholic Church. Emphasizing outreach to marginalized communities, he drew massive crowds at international Masses and promoted dialogue through synods that for the first time included women with voting rights. Although he stopped short of appointing female deacons, his progressive stands—such as softening stances on remarried divorcees, gay civil unions, and transgender participation—sparked backlash from conservative factions, especially in the U.S. Francis also advocated for climate action through his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si and pursued diplomacy with both the Russian Orthodox Church and China, though both efforts eventually soured. Inside the Vatican, his populist gestures contrasted with criticisms of autocracy and missteps, such as mishandling abuse cases and financial scandals implicating his own oversight. Francis emphasized a dynamic, living faith, breaking from rigid tradition and focusing on humanitarian deeds, such as housing refugees and aiding the homeless. His legacy is one of bold reform intertwined with internal resistance, lauded by millions but deeply contested by traditional Catholic leaders.
Pope Francis, who passed away in 2025, significantly shaped Catholic Church policy during his papacy. He reformed positions on major issues, notably declaring the death penalty inadmissible under all circumstances, condemning life without parole and solitary confinement as inhumane. He also revised Church doctrine to denounce even the possession of nuclear weapons and advocated for strong climate action, condemning the globalized economic system for its detrimental environmental and social impacts. In terms of social outreach, he embraced marginalized communities, forging historic ties with Muslim leaders and taking steps toward inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals, although stopping short of altering core doctrine on homosexuality.
Francis maintained traditional stances on abortion, celibacy, and contraception, though he adopted a more pastoral tone by offering spiritual support to women who had abortions and allowing priests to absolve them. He enhanced women’s roles in Church governance but upheld the male-only priesthood. He focused on indigenous rights, apologized for colonial-era abuses, and repudiated aspects of the “Doctrine of Discovery.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, Francis championed equitable vaccine access and used the crisis to call for global solidarity. His legacy includes Vatican financial reform, support for migrants, and softening the Church’s approach to divorce, while sometimes sparking criticism from conservative factions.
In one of his harshest criticisms of abortion, Pope Francis compared the procedure to “hiring a hitman to resolve a problem.” The pontiff told his weekly general audience at St Peter’s Square that “a contradictory approach to life allows the suppression of human life in the mother’s womb in order to safeguard other values.” He added: “How can an act that suppresses an innocent and helpless life as it blossoms be therapeutic, civil or, simply, humane?”
Pope Francis has said that he thinks same-sex couples should be allowed to have “civil unions”. He made the comments, which observers say are his clearest remarks yet on gay relationships, in a documentary directed by Evgeny Afineevsky. “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” he said in the film, which premiered on Wednesday. “They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”
Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pontiff while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. The papal thumbs-up came midway through the
