Francisco – The first non -European and Jesuit pope – leaves, when dying, a Catholic church with questioned traditions, open discussions and a reformist breeze that had been asked for decades, but also awakened strong resistance.
Francis certainly did not do everything he wanted, but what he did was not little.
Three axes are proposed for reflection as we review their 12 years of papacy: the reforms in the Catholic Church, their role as a world spiritual leader, and their role in the life of Argentina, their homeland, divided by political polarization from which more than once did not want to escape.
Francisco had to deal with an unprecedented reality: an emeritus Pope, Benedict 16, who accompanied him and whose conservatism conditioned him. He accepted this with generosity and wisdom, so that his predecessor would not become a brake for his renewing impulses.
Permanent preaching in favor of the poor and marginalized (“as I long for a poor church for the poor”) defined his arrival in Rome. He left no room for ambiguity. His first trip to the Italian island of Lampedusa, when African migrants landed to the thousands in Europe, and were rejected or displaced by governments, marked a clear north, to be next to the refugees.
The abuses committed by priests, a horror that has gained space, denounced by victims around the world, homophobia, and the obscure financial business of the Vatican have been pleasant issues since its consecration. Francisia deepened the fight against the abuses that began by Benedict 16, and in terms of finance allowed external controls and enabled the trial of Vatican employees accused of corruption. “If a person is gay, he seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him?” He said, signaling his willingness to make the church more inclusive and in tune with today’s times.
However, this was not enough for the most progressives who, besides gestures and statements, expected the ordination of women and married men (in geographical regions with scarcity of priests) and deeper changes in sexual doctrine.
His role in world politics seemed to follow the same parable of decline in his health. He stood out as a facilitator of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, and was the first pope to speak before law enhancers in the US Congress.
The other side of the coin was his lack of definition after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, his refusal to condemn Putin and his refusal to travel to Kiev to express support for the attacked population.
The bond with Argentina failed to escape political polarization. The result was painful for the Argentines and certainly for him: he died without visiting his country, who waited for him without luck. Francisco received all the Argentine presidents, was photographed with them and leaders of different political colors. However, many of their statements could not fail to be read in the world as those of a leftist populist and, in Argentina, as those of a peronist, uncomfortable and elliptically critical of governments of another origin.
No work is perfect, not even that of the Argentine man who watched the path of faith until he reached the apex of Catholicism. But the fact that it is not perfect does not mean that it was not a successful work. Francisco died, but his message, with lights and shadows, marks the future.
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