Francis (1936–2025), The Pope Who Made The Roman Church More ‘catholic’

In 2013, following the dramatic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis, the Roman Catholic Church was experiencing a time of chaos. It was embroiled in sexual scandals, financial corruption, negative attitudes by the media, and declining public opinion. The Promise of Francis: The Man, the Pope, and the Challenge of Change by the BBC Vatican correspondent, David Willey, expressed a widespread wish in Catholic circles. Francis was elected “from the end of the world” to bring about change.

Francis shook the Catholic world with a whirlwind of change: in symbols (wearing a silvery metal cross), in status (living in a simple apartment at Santa Marta), in language (speaking as a country priest), in posture (approachable by all), in tone (relational and warm), in style (undiplomatic and direct), in pastoral openness (blessing homosexual people and admitting divorced people at the Eucharist).

After a few years of Francis’s pontificate, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote To Change the Church, a book that expressed concerns over the theological disruption the pope had brought about and the divisions that ensued. Some traditionalist circles reacted strongly to Francis because they saw the danger of losing the Roman elements represented by the church’s well-established teachings and practices. High-rank Roman Catholic theologians didn’t dare to call him a “heretic.” They feared that the Catholic would swallow the Roman.

The changes Francis introduced became controversial, turning the high expectations of his pontificate’s beginning into the confusing developments toward its end.

Defying Expectations

Of eclectic and unfinished theological training, Argentine and nonacademic, Francis immediately showed his frustration with the maintenance mood of the church, the rigidity of traditional schemes and patterns, and the clericalism of ecclesiastical culture. He demonstrated his frustration by using a more pastoral language and trying to implement polyhedric rather than top-down ways of thinking.

The theological world of Francis was populated by words and expressions like “theology of the people,” “missionary conversion,” “mercy,” “synodality,” “ecological conversion,” and “fraternity and brotherhood.” Not all are new terms; some were already used in Roman Catholic teaching but were given new nuance or distinct significance by Francis.

He also became the spokesman of the world religions on issues like migration, the environment, and peace, but less so on issues like protecting life in the womb.

‘Liquid’ Roman Catholicism

All these talking points were in the context of his understanding of interfaith dialogue: Francis emphasized vibes over doctrine.

When he discussed how to promote Christian unity, Francis declared this strategy: “Let’s do one thing: put all the theologians on an island and let them argue among themselves, and we shall move forward in peace.” For him, theological conversations were almost a waste of time. His approach to ecumenism was shaped as “walking together, praying together, and working together” rather than in theological discussions seeking doctrinal agreement. His was a “spiritual ecumenism.” He used the same approach with liberal Protestants, evangelicals, charismatics of various stripes, and Eastern Orthodox, as well as non-Christian faith communities. His desire for unity reached out beyond Christian circles.

Francis emphasized vibes over doctrine. For him, theological conversations were almost a waste of time.

Francis emphasized the unity of humankind over narrow ecclesial and even religious boundaries. In 2020, he published an encyclical (the highest authoritative teaching of a pope) on universal fraternity. This document, All Brothers, consolidated the idea that the Roman Catholic Church is inclusive of all based on a common and shared humanity, not based on repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. He regularly prayed with Muslims and leaders of other faiths.

Francis emphasized inclusion rather than tradition. He encouraged his church to address divorced and remarried Catholics not according to the “letter” of their traditional exclusion from communion but following the all-embracing “spirit” that looks for ways to include them on a case-by-case basis. This is what his 2016 post-synod on the family exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, provided for.

Francis seemed to propose a “liquid” form of Roman Catholicism.

We should understand what happened with Francis against the background of the tensions between the Roman and Catholic poles within Roman Catholicism. Francis strongly pushed the “catholic” agenda of Rome—embracing all, affirming all, and expanding the church’s traditional boundaries.

Who’s Next: John XXIV?

Will the “change” brought about by Francis be advanced in the next pope? On the papal plane returning to Rome from Mongolia in 2023, Francis hinted at his possible successor. He didn’t refer to a specific individual, but he proposed the papal name John XXIV as the one he wished the next pope could take.

Francis strongly pushed the ‘catholic’ agenda of Rome—embracing all, affirming all, and expanding the church’s traditional boundaries.

In his 12-year tenure, Francis has shaped the next conclave (i.e., the assembly of cardinals who will elect the next pope) by nominating 75 percent of it. Most of the new cardinals are Francis’s friends and like-minded people. Why “John XXIV” then? John XXIII is known as the “good pope”—he was approachable, kind, warm, and humble. He convened the Second Vatican Council in 1959; the council only began in 1962, and John XXIII died during it.

Vatican II is the watershed event in the present-day Roman Catholic Church. At the council, Rome began to downplay its centuries-long insistence on the “Roman” sides of its identity (e.g., hierarchy, full adherence to the catechism, submission to the ecclesiastical authority) and to stress its “catholic” aspirations (e.g., inclusion, embracement, absorption). Francis thought of himself as enacting and implementing this aspect of Vatican II. A John XXIII–like pope would promote universal fraternity in ecumenical, interfaith, and social relationships while preserving Catholic unity.

The change Francis brought about didn’t promote an “evangelical” move in the Roman Church. He made his church more “catholic” and less Roman, but no more biblical. Regardless of who the next pope will be, the need for a biblical reformation will be as relevant as ever.