Pope Francis – the reformist extraordinaire

Apr 21, 2025

By Rock Ronald Rozario
Pope Francis made history when he was elected the supreme leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on March 13, 2013.

He was the first pope from the Society of Jesus (popularly known as Jesuits), the first Latin-American pope and the first non-European in about 1,300 years to become pope.

Following his election, Francis proved himself as a changemaker and liberal spiritual leader pushing for radical, long-overdue reforms in the Catholic Church despite strong opposition from the conservative bloc.

In a tenure lasting about 12 years, Francis radically changed the tone and demeanor of the Church and sidelined conservative forces and practices within the Church without making major changes to the Church's policies and doctrines.

In fact, through his words and actions, Francis effectively proved what John Gehring, program director of the US-based advocacy group, Faith in Public Life, wrote about Pope Francis' influence in a Washington Post article six months after he became pope.

"Something unexpected and extraordinary is happening in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis is rescuing the faith from those who hunker down in gilded cathedrals and wield doctrine like a sword. The edifice of fortress Catholicism — in which progressive Catholics, gay Catholics, Catholic women and others who love the Church, but often feel marginalized by the hierarchy — is starting to crumble," Gehring wrote.

Francis will be remembered for his countless words and symbolic gestures that helped the Catholic Church become "a guiding light and moral conscience" in an ultramodern and increasingly secular world.

His journey from a simple, humble pastor and then archbishop “who smells the sheep” in the streets of Buenos Aires, his home city in Argentina, to the highest echelon of the Catholic Church, was a testament to his extraordinary liberal worldview that included everyone and excluded none.

‘I am one of them’
From his role as a parish priest, teacher, archbishop, and cardinal in his homeland and then as a pope, Francis strongly demonstrated his pro-people approach, love for the poor and marginalized, and simple lifestyle.

“My people are poor, and I am one of them,” he said many times. Even as an archbishop he ditched the palatial residence and lived in an apartment and cooked his own supper. He always advised his priests to show mercy and apostolic courage and to keep their doors open to everyone.

On various occasions, he warned the clergy that the worst thing that could happen to the Church “is what de Lubac called spiritual worldliness,” which means, “being self-centered.” He insisted on social justice and asked people to first pick up the Catechism, to rediscover the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, and follow his simple, humanist project: if you follow Christ, you understand that “trampling upon a person’s dignity is a serious sin.”

His strong stance for social justice became a reference point during the acute financial crisis that overwhelmed Argentina in 2001.

Globalization of indifference
In November 2013, Francis published his first Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), considered a blueprint for his papacy.

Pope Francis hit out at extreme globalization driven by capitalism. He slammed consumer culture, corporate greed, and the notion of a top-down economic system.

He noted, "Today we also have to say 'thou shall not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?"

A pope on a great mission
Shortly after the conclave elected Pope Francis on March 13, 2013, he demonstrated he was not just a pope from another part of the world, but he was also on a mission for change.

He emerged as pope on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica wearing a simple white cloak and a wooden cross, renouncing the traditional red papal mozetta. He requested the cheering crowd to “bless me first” instead of blessing them as pope. It signaled the kind of revolutionary papacy and legacy Francis would forge in the years to come. It was a strong message for change.

Over the next 12 years, Francis did not make any major change to the Church’s doctrines but attempted to refocus the Church’s attention on utilizing its energy according to the teaching of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. He strongly criticized a "self-referential" Church that grows "sick" when clergy fail to engage the world. He urged the Church to get down to the streets even if it meets with a few "accidents."

Media reports say the most frequent words used by Francis in his homilies and formal addresses were “joy” and “mercy.” It was truly a refreshing change from strict religious leaders who often take a defensive posture infusing fear among the faithful.

Francis envisioned the Church being turned into a 'field hospital' that serves anyone who seeks healing in a world full of conflicts.

‘Throwaway culture’
In June 2015, Pope Francis published Laudato Si' (Praise be to you), a papal encyclical on climate change.

He called pollution a "sin" and appealed to denounce a 'throwaway culture,' 'consumerism,' irresponsible developments, and environmental degradation.

He said that it was a moral obligation to sign a binding international agreement to combat global warming through “swift and unified global action.”--ucanews.com