Five Ways Pope Francis, Religious Leader Who Pushed to Modernize the Catholic Church, Was a Man of Firsts

[G_j]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-ways-pope-francis-religious-leader-who-pushed-to-modernize-the-catholic-church-was-man-of-firsts-180983379/

Five Ways Pope Francis, Religious Leader Who Pushed to Modernize the Catholic Church, Was a Man of Firsts

The pontiff, who died on Easter Monday at age 88, strived to make the church more inclusive. But critics believed his reforms either went too far or not far enough

Christopher Parker and Meilan Solly
April 21, 2025 7:17 a.m.

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 12 years old, he sent a love letter to a girl named Amalia, promising to buy her a house with a red roof and white walls when they eventually got married. Unfortunately for the lovestruck preteen, Amalia’s father refused to let the burgeoning romance continue. As Amalia later recalled, the last words Bergoglio said to her were, “If I don’t marry you, I’m going to become a priest.”

Thirty-one years later, in 1969, Bergoglio fulfilled this prophecy by becoming an ordained priest. Even then, he had no idea that he would ascend to the highest echelons of the Catholic Church, assuming leadership of the Holy See after Pope Benedict XVI resigned from office due to health issues in 2013.

Over the next 12 years, until his death at age 88 on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, Bergoglio—now known by the papal name Francis—continually defied expectations, pushing the church to modernize even as he faced resistance from conservatives who believed his reforms went too far and liberals who argued the changes didn’t go far enough. The late pope rejected the traditionalism of his papal predecessors, instead emphasizing humility, charity to the poor, and outreach to marginalized groups and adherents of different faiths. Under his leadership, the papacy looked outward, considering how Catholic theology should be reinterpreted in the 21st century. Francis had survived a bout of pneuomnia earlier this year and was still recovering from the illness.

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[Sibelius Fan]

1. A worldwide authoritarian, paternalist enterprise, born of ignorance and fear, built upon lies, make-believe and terror,

sustained by enslaving the minds and hopes of the downtrodden. How does one reform such an entity short of tearing it all down?