Pope Francis: Celebrating 10 Years of Reform and Looking Ahead

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Pope Francis recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of his election, which means he has been in office for a long time. He originally thought he would just be Pope for two or three years, but now he says that the job is for life and he doesn’t plan on leaving soon.

The first Latin American pope in history is already famous and could be even more important in the years to come. 10 years ago, this Argentinean priest was so sure he wouldn’t be chosen as pope that he almost missed the last vote while chatting with another cardinal in the Sistine Chapel.

The person who was in charge of the event said to Francis “Do you want to go inside or not?” which confused him. However, later he realized that his hesitation was due to something within himself. After that, a vote was taken and Francis became the Pope number 266.

At first, Francis didn’t take the issue of clergy sex abuse very seriously. This made survivors doubt if he truly understood it. However, after five years into his role as pope following a problematic trip to Chile, he realized how severe the problem was; there had been hundreds or thousands of young people in Chile who were sexually abused by Catholic priests over many years.

He said it was his life-changing event when he noticed the corruption among many bishops in the Catholic Church. Since then, Pope Francis has been trying to ensure that people high up in the church are held responsible, but not a lot of progress has been made. In fact, Benedict removed around 800 priests from their positions due to abuse allegations; however, Francis is less eager to remove more predators from the priesthood despite pressure from people inside and out the church.

Right now, there is another big problem arising – adults are being sexually, psychologically, and spiritually abused by clergy. The Pope is aware of this new case that involves one of his fellow Jesuits, but it doesn’t seem likely that any firm action will be taken.

In the future, people might write a lot about Pope Francis’ focus on “synodality”. This is a special word used in the Catholic religion that could become remembered as one of the most important things he did while leading the church.

A synod is when lots of bishops get together. Pope Francis believes that bishops should also listen to other people like the laity (regular church-goers). His goal is for the Catholic Church to be a place where believers are accepted and listened to.

The past ten years have seen some amazing but sometimes controversial synods (people coming together) which the Pope had a lot to do with.

In 2014 and 2015, Pope Francis listened to how divorced Catholics were struggling and decided that people who were already divorced and remarried could receive Communion. In 2019, some people suggested that married priests should be allowed but the pope disagreed with this idea.

This month, the Catholic Church asked its people what they would like to see change and what challenges they have come across. A lot of ladies said that the church should allow them to take on bigger jobs, including becoming priests.

When Pope Francis was chosen, many Catholic traditionalists were upset because he didn’t wear the same red cape that his predecessors had used for special occasions. However, they never thought he would do the opposite of what Pope Benedict did by bringing back the old Latin Mass and setting up rules about who could celebrate it and where.

Recently, Pope Francis changed the rules of how Catholic Masses were celebrated, which only affected some people. However, this move became a rallying cry for those who don’t agree with him. The Pope argued that letting people celebrate Mass in older ways was splitting churches apart, but conservative traditionalists saw it as an attack on their beliefs and not fitting in with what Pope Francis says which is that everyone is welcome.

Joseph Shaw, from the U.K. branch of the Latin Mass Society, said sadly that not having churches open to them will make faithful Catholics feel left out and forgotten. Even though it seems unlikely that Pope Francis will change his mind soon, traditionalists have hope; in a very old religion, maybe another Pope will come along who allows them to do their traditional rituals again.

Francis has a habit of making jokes about women that often upset them. He once compared female theologians to a “strawberry on the cake”. He also said nuns should not be treated like “old maids”. Lastly, he told European Union lawmakers that Europe should not be seen as an “inactive grandmother”. His comments resulted in a scolding phone call from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Pope Francis has become well-known for making efforts to involve more women in the church. He even appointed a couple of ladies to prominent roles at the Vatican. But, it doesn’t mean so much when around 75% of the staff at the Holy See are men and none of them run their own departments yet. Lastly, Pope Francis follows with the idea that women can’t be part of the priesthood.

María Lía Zervino, one of the first three women selected to work in the Vatican office that helps choose bishops around the world, said that it is clear that LGBTQ Catholics (LGBTQ stands for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer”) can find a place to belong in the church. Pope Francis has also supported this with two sayings: “Who am I to judge?” and “Being homosexual is not a crime.”

Pope Francis has made known his support of LGBTQ people more than any other Pope before him. He spoke to members of a transgender community based in Rome, met with gay couples looking to raise children Catholic, and even met with a gay former student and his partner while visiting the U.S. This was done so that others could know he didn’t only receive anti-same-sex marriage activists.

The pope is reminding the church that how people act around each other in everyday life is more important than what they may do privately. Francis DeBernardo from New Ways Ministry, which supports LGBTQ Catholics, said this.