The first Jesuit and Latin American pope has tried to adapt the Catholic Church to the new, not without setbacks. They say the pope is globalized as he has visited 59 countries.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, de Pope Franciscothe first Jesuit and Latin American pope in history, has today completed his first decade of pontificate and, despite the osteoarthritis he suffers from in his right knee, has no intention of resigning any time soon, saying he will only resign if fatigue “forces” him.
His election was marked by the resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and thus began an unprecedented phase in history, with a reigning pope and an emeritus pope living at the same time, a period that ended on December 31, 2022, with the death of Joseph Ratzinger.
With a more austere style – he gave up the use of an official car, among other things – he tried to modernize the Catholic Church and give it a more solid style. As soon as he began his pontificate, Francis chose an unexpected place his first voyage: the island of Lampedusa, in Sicily, closest to the African coast and considered the gateway to Europe for migrants looking for a future. It was July 8, 2013 and from there he launched his message about the “globalization of indifference”. His cry of “shame” for what happened echoed around the world.
The Pope’s visit to Chile in January 2018 was considered the real dividing line in Francis’ pontificate and his fight against the child abuse by members of the church. In this Latin American country, the visit was met with real rejection because of the abuse scandals and the pope’s position in defense of the Chilean bishop Juan Barros, accused of cover-ups.
Upon his return, he ordered a historical investigation, and in April 2018, the pope acknowledged having made “serious errors of judgment” in Barros’s case, met the victims of pedophile priest Fernando Karadima and called on all Chilean bishops to to resolve. of their mail.
In an effort to take a strong stance against the abuses, Pope Francis came in February 2019 a top against pedophiles which brought together the entire episcopal hierarchy in the Vatican. Victim associations estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 minors worldwide have been physically and sexually abused in Catholic institutions.
In addition, the Pope has visited during these 10 years 59 countries, many of them belong to a Catholic minority, such as Egypt or the United Arab Emirates; and he has traveled to places far from Rome, such as Myanmar and Bangladesh, to manifest the universality of his message. They don’t call him the one for nothing globalized father.
This is how his trip to Iraq (in March 2021) is remembered and his praying statue among the ruins of the city of Mosul, a few meters from the Al Nuri Mosque in Mosul, a symbol of the rise and fall of the Islamic State, changed the world around.
Likewise, some gestures to mediate international conflicts are remembered, including that of April 12, 2019, when the pope knelt down and kissed the feet of leaders in the conflict in South Sudan in an effort to encourage the peace process. in this African country.
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Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
