The Death of Pope Francis

 

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. Under his leadership there was an attempt at making reforms to the Catholic Church. Pope Francis spoke about the need to take climate change seriously, compassion for refugees, and advocated acceptance of LGBTQ individuals. The question remains whether these were genuine changes in thought or had ulterior motives in mind. The real purpose of these positions and reforms are designed to keep the Catholic Church relevant. The youth are not going to be as religious as older generations. Overtime, organized religion could lose influence. The positions that Pope Francis took were about trying to recruit younger members to the Catholic Church. The problem is that tradition and social conservatism is not appealing to the vast majority of the public. Pope Francis did not approve of same sex marriage, abortion, or ordaining women as priests. Social conservatism remains a part of the papacy's worldview, even though some modest liberal reforms are experimented with. The mythical image of Pope Francis is a champion of leftist thought and humanitarianism. His convictions could not be classified as liberation theology. Just like other popes, Francis did little to stop the extensive sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. Failure to acknowledge women's reproductive rights or stopping criminal action undermines the claim of a humanitarian pope. Pope Francis was elected pope in 2013. The 11 years of modest reform could possibly be reversed. The Pope Francis era has come to an end and the Vatican will see a new administration.