Pope Francis, Charismatic Reformer and Disruptor, Dies at 88

Ordained a priest in 1969, he became the provincial superior of the Jesuit order in Argentina in 1973, at a critical time known as the Dirty War, when the country’s military dictatorship relentlessly pursued and imprisoned its critics. Bergoglio was often criticized for not standing up to the regime. His relationship with the global Jesuit order was also strained due to his iron-fist leadership and opposition to liberation theology, which was becoming increasingly popular in Latin America.

He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, quickly earning the title of “slum bishop” for his ministry in the city’s poverty-stricken favelas. In 2001, Pope John Paul II made Bergoglio a cardinal and appointed him to a number of Vatican Curial positions. He had an influential role in creating the Aparecida document, a 2007 statement by Latin America’s Catholic bishops emphasizing the importance of the family, the environment and evangelization.

At the conclave after John Paul’s death in 2005, Bergoglio was one of the cardinals spoken of as “papabile,” or a credible candidate for the papacy, but the cardinals chose the continuity of Benedict, who as Joseph Ratzinger had been John Paul’s fierce doctrinal chief, sometimes called “God’s Rottweiler.”

When, in 2013, the cardinals did make Bergoglio St. Peter’s 265th successor, he took the name “Francis” in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, known for his devotion to the poor and the environment. The unassuming “Buonasera” (good evening) that he uttered to the waiting faithful in St. Peter’s Square after his election foreshadowed his humble approach to the papacy. Eschewing the grander Apostolic Palace, Francis chose to live in the hotel-like room of Domus Sanctae Marthae and eat with other Curial members. He opted for simple clothing and jewelry, distancing himself from the pomp and regalia of his predecessors.

He immediately set about making much-needed structural and economic reforms, continuing the work started by Benedict in the Institute for Religious Works, known as the Vatican bank, but more sensationally allowing 10 individuals, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, to be tried for suspected fraud, embezzlement and money laundering. Francis stripped the powerful Secretariat of State of its investment assets and injected transparency into the Vatican’s acquisitions process. His Apostolic Constitution, Paredicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), merged many Vatican departments, eliminated redundancies and promoted more involvement of lay Catholics.

Francis’ sometimes tough reforms won him determined opponents inside the Vatican, but he bolstered his position by selecting some 80% of the cardinals heading 10 consistories. He gave red hats to prelates from a wide range of countries, including some that never had a cardinal before, creating the most diverse College of Cardinals in the history of the church.

The pope sought to eliminate clericalism—the preferential treatment assumed by priests in the church that is as often awarded by lay Catholics. “The pope’s actions had the purpose of purifying the church to a great effect,” said Massimo Borghesi, a philosophy professor at the University of Perugia and author of “The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey.”

Francis’ efforts “led to the great oppositions and contrasts that he faced within the church,” Borghesi added.

To reconcile these tensions, Francis took a keen interest in calling summits of bishops, known as synods, to address key challenges facing the church, and stirring new conversations and discussions about female ordination and a married priesthood, inevitably drawing vocal opposition. The three-year Synod on Synodality, ending in October 2024, aimed to take the pulse of Catholics all over the world and to expand the people and views that go into the church’s decision-making.

Yet Francis made few changes to Catholic teaching itself. He enshrined the church’s opposition to the death penalty within the catechism and opened the door for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist with the spiritual guidance of a priest. He took a stronger stance against nuclear weapons and restricted the definition of just war that had been used by politicians to justify foreign interventions.