{"id":6510,"date":"2026-04-21T12:57:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T07:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/pope-francis-legacy-in-time-one-year-after-his-death\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:57:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T07:27:38","slug":"pope-francis-legacy-in-time-one-year-after-his-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/pope-francis-legacy-in-time-one-year-after-his-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis&#8217; legacy in time, one year after his death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_7PABnirRM4Q?client=wp&amp;client_version=2.7.1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>VATICAN CITY (RNS) \u2014 Pope Francis will likely be remembered for his gestures: his lone walk under the rain in St. Peter\u2019s Square to pray during the pandemic, his embrace of migrants, his unscripted phone calls and off-the-cuff remarks.<\/p>\n<p>But behind the images, the pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio was built on something quieter \u2014 \u201cstarting processes\u201d as he would say, a strategy aimed not at immediate results, but at shaping the future of the Catholic Church long after his death.<\/p>\n<p>From church reform to episcopal appointments and a renewed focus on the peripheries, Francis planted seeds meant to outlast him.<\/p>\n<p>Halfway through Francis\u2019 papacy, many observers \u2014 especially in a Western world accustomed to measuring leadership in terms of mandates, milestones and results \u2014 were wondering what the pope had actually accomplished during his pontificate.<\/p>\n<p>Despite fierce pressure from both progressives and conservatives, Francis made relatively few formal doctrinal changes. Those he did enact could be counted on one hand: revising the catechism of the Catholic Church to declare the death penalty inadmissible; repudiating the 15th-century Doctrine of Discovery that justified the subjugation of Indigenous peoples; and opening certain liturgical roles to women by removing canonical restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBergoglio wasn\u2019t the dangerous destabilizer of dogma sitting at the throne of Peter,\u201d said Massimo Borghesi, author of \u201cFrom Bergoglio to Francis, a Catholic Thought\u201d in an interview on Italian media April 20, even if that\u2019s how many of Francis\u2019 detractors saw him and how the media often portrayed him.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4199090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4199090\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4-427x284.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/webRNS-Latino-Catholics-Pope4-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Pope Francis drinks from a mate gourd, a traditional Argentine drink, that was offered by faithful in St. Peter\u2019s Square during the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Aug. 27, 2014. (AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia, File)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even some of his most controversial moves were structurally modest. His cautious opening to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion \u2014 after pastoral accompaniment \u2014 appeared not as a headline reform but as a footnote in his 2016 apostolic exhortation \u201cAmoris Laetitia,\u201d and only after years of consultation with bishops.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium,\u201d Pope Francis wrote in the exhortation.<\/p>\n<p>Even Francis\u2019 doctrine czar, Cardinal V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, seemed concerned with the longevity of Francis\u2019 pontificate. \u201cSo, will it have served nothing, that Pope Francis should have been for eleven years the Supreme Pontiff?\u201d he asked a room full of journalists in April 2024.<\/p>\n<p>But a year after Francis\u2019 death, his legacy is not defined by what he changed in doctrine, rather in how he changed the Church\u2019s understanding of itself \u2014 and its place in the world.<\/p>\n<p>That vision was laid out early in his programmatic document, \u201cEvangelii Gaudium\u201d (The Joy of the Gospel), where he proposed a governing principle that would define his papacy: \u201cTime is greater than space.\u201d Pope Francis meant that \u201cinstitutions often prefer space and power over time and process,\u201d explained Ethna Regan, head of the School of Theology in Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin City University.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4189939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4189939\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/webRNS-Francis-Amazon1-101519-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Pope Francis leaves the morning session of the Amazon synod, at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the interview, which occurred in 2021 and addressed Francis\u2019 understanding of his reforms over time, Regan interpreted the pope\u2019s thought as a \u201cpost-colonial\u201d perspective. \u201cShort term thinking has negative effects on human beings, whether it\u2019s the environment, political policy or ecclesiastical reform,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>That same year, Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, distinguished professor of ethics and human development at Georgetown University, explained that it was difficult for people, especially in the United States, to understand Francis\u2019 approach to reform, which \u201cbegins with the reform of hearts and therefore giving up a sense of power and privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe church is not a static institution, it\u2019s a dynamic movement led by the spirit,\u201d Christiansen said, adding that Francis sought not quick fixes but long-term transformation. \u201cIt is only in time that you introduce new synthesis, that you grapple with the realities of the age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Christiansen credited Francis\u2019 Jesuit background with giving him a spirituality \u201cof contemplation and of action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh noted that \u201cat the Vatican, the fastest thing was the pope.\u201d Francis would act swiftly when necessary, but if a matter required further discernment and reflection, he would, according to Ivereigh, \u201cbuy himself time.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4115780\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4115780\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-427x240.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-807x454.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-624x351.jpg 624w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/webRNS-Vatican-Synod1-102323-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Pope Francis poses for a picture with participants of the Synod of Bishops\u2019 16th General Assembly in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>His reform of the offices and departments that make up the Roman Curia was slow-paced, and he would often enact the changes before writing them into law \u2014 as if to test them for a time. His long-term vision was nowhere clearer than in his most ambitious project: the Synod on Synodality.<\/p>\n<p>The synod was a multiyear experiment aimed at reshaping the decision-making process in the church. It launched a massive two-year listening process at every level of the church and led to two summits of bishops and church leaders at the Vatican. But the implementation process continues to this day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the synodal process, many times I felt, \u2018my God, this is taking so long,\u2019\u201d said Mario Aguilar, scholar at the University of St. Andrews and a friend of the late pontiff, \u201cbut that was the point!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Francis also appointed women and laypeople to senior Vatican roles at an unprecedented level. Those appointments did not rewrite doctrine on women, but they shifted the reality on the ground, and the women who occupy these roles have stated often to Religion News Service that they recognize their roles as pioneers, opening the door for future generations.<\/p>\n<p>Aguilar is part of a network of so-called Scholars for Dialogue, promoted by Francis and comprising academics and intellectuals mostly from the Global South who seek to promote the late pope\u2019s views. Francis empowered theologians and church historians to continue their research without waiting for the Vatican\u2019s approval, Aguilar said, a push that continues to this day.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4116599\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4116599\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18.jpg 2307w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-624x416.jpg 624w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/main-v01-18-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Pope Francis speaks during his weekly general audience in St. Peter\u2019s Square at the Vatican, on Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino, File)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Scholars for Dialogue visited the simple white marble tomb of Francis in St. Mary Major to say: \u201cPope Francis, you left us something very important. We shall continue your legacy,\u201d Aguilar said.<\/p>\n<p>Ivereigh remembers Francis as \u201cvery conscious of time, in the sense that he needed to always be ahead of the clock,\u201d despite being willing to spend time with those who needed him. He joins the chorus of people who described Francis as a hard-working man, known for not taking any vacations.<\/p>\n<p>Salvatore Cernuzio, a reporter at Vatican News, writes of his personal relationship with the late pontiff in his book \u201cFather.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that while Francis himself acknowledged being \u201cinstinctive at times,\u201d acting decisively and \u201cusing strong language, angering embassies and prime ministers,\u201d when it came to big decisions, \u201che prayed and reflected on things; they were not impulsive decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that was evident in Francis\u2019 desire to be the first pope to visit China \u2014 which, in part, led to the signing of the controversial provisional 2018 agreement between the People\u2019s Republic and the Holy See, granting Beijing authority in the selection of bishops.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3795266\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 4914px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3795266\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4914\" height=\"2838\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519.jpg 4914w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-427x247.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-768x444.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-807x466.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-100x58.jpg 100w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-1200x693.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-1600x924.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AP_19325337665519-600x347.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4914px) 100vw, 4914px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Students practice flipping boards with photos to reveal a full-mosaic portrait of Pope Francis before a Holy Mass at National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo\/Sakchai Lalit)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe always took a certain pleasure in this idea of being the first \u2014 not out of egotism, as some critics wrote, not as a matter of image \u2014 but because it was the Church moving forward, the process. He always spoke about initiating processes, not occupying spaces, but opening doors, opening paths,\u201d Cernuzio said.<\/p>\n<p>Cernuzio\u2019s book shows a pope behind the scenes, not unlike the one on the world stage. \u201cA pope who ate ice cream, who had this instinct to pick up the phone when there was something he felt like saying, something he felt like doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Aguilar recalls a similar image as he recounts stories of eating pizza and playing \u201cMonopoly\u201d with the pontiff in Jordan or a time when Francis snuck out of the Vatican to have a meeting with him, wearing a simple black cassock, only to be discovered by the Vatican gendarmes.<\/p>\n<p>Francis\u2019 \u201cfirst concern was to be a shepherd of souls,\u201d said Cernuzio. \u201cHe fulfilled his role, which was to be close to those who were suffering, to those under bombs, wherever they might be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A part of that mercy lives on today, in Francis\u2019 last wish: \u201cThe vehicle of hope\u201d \u2014 a pope-mobile refitted into a mobile pediatric clinic capable of treating up to 200 children a day in Gaza. The move inspired other charitable organizations to join forces with the Catholic charity network Caritas to build nine more mobile clinics to help people in Gaza.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4201331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4201331\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2-427x240.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2-807x454.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/webRNS-Popemobile-Gaza2-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Work being carried out to transform the popemobile used by Pope Francis during his 2014 Holy Land pilgrimage into a mobile health unit for Gaza. (Photo courtesy of Caritas Jerusalem)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But Francis also ensured his vision would outlive him by selecting the cardinals who elected his successor, picking them from dioceses on the peripheries, far from traditional centers of power.<\/p>\n<p>When Leo XIV, a Peruvian American missionary with experience leading the impoverished diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, emerged from the Loggia, many fears that his predecessor\u2019s efforts would be forgotten were dispelled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to be a synodal Church, a Church that moves forward, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering,\u201d Leo told the crowds immediately after his election, sending a message that Francis\u2019 most consequential decisions were never meant to be endpoints, but beginnings.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/21\/pope-francis-a-legacy-of-beginnings\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VATICAN CITY (RNS) \u2014 Pope Francis will likely be remembered for his gestures: his lone walk under the rain in St. Peter\u2019s Square to pray during the pandemic, his embrace of migrants, his unscripted phone calls and off-the-cuff remarks. But behind the images, the pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio was built on something quieter \u2014 \u201cstarting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}