Pope Francis changed the face of the modern papacy more than any predecessor by shunning much of its pomp and privilege, but his attempts to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and less judgmental made him an enemy to conservatives nostalgic for a traditional past.
Francis inherited a deeply divided Church after the resignation in 2013 of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. The conservative-progressive gap became a chasm after Francis, from Argentina, was elected the first non-European Pope in 1,300 years.
The polarisation was fiercest in the United States, where conservative Catholicism often blended with well-financed right-wing politics and media outlets.
For nearly a decade until Benedict’s death in 2022, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican, causing much confusion among the faithful and leading to calls for written norms on the role of retired Popes.
The intensity of conservative animosity to the Pope was laid bare in January 2023 when it emerged that the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, a towering figure in the conservative movement and a Benedict ally, was the author of an anonymous memo in 2022 that condemned Francis’ papacy as a ‘catastrophe’.
The memo amounted to a conservative manifesto of the qualities conservatives will want in the next Pope.
Francis appointed nearly 80 per cent of the cardinal electors who will choose the next Pope, increasing, but not guaranteeing, the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies. Some Vatican experts have predicted a more moderate, less divisive successor.
Under his watch, an overhauled Vatican constitution allowed any baptised lay Catholic, including women, to head most departments in the Catholic Church’s central administration.
He put more women in senior Vatican roles than any previous Pope but not as many as progressives wanted.
Francis was 76 when he was elected to the post and his health was generally good for most of his papacy.
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