Pope Francis worked until the end. On Easter Sunday, the 88-year-old Catholic Church director offered Easter greetings to the crowd at St. Peters Square who had gathered for Mass. By the next morning, he had passed away several months after fighting pneumonia and bronchitis.
From the beginning, the first Latin American pope wanted his pope to be different. Katherine Peppinsterthe former editor of the tablet, says one of his first notable actions was to wash people’s feet at a traditional Moody Thursday ritual, by going to prisons rather than churches. It was typical to reject many of the luxury of his predecessor, from giving up on his Pope Palace apartment to wearing only simple leather shoes.
Michael Sapphi We hear about some of the Catholic debates in the Catholic Church, and how Pope Francis attempted to adopt a different approach to treating LGBTQ+ Catholics in particular. “Francis often talked about love,” says Pepinster. But many people thought he hadn’t gone far enough on this and other issues, from female priests to abuse scandals. Now the church is preparing to choose a successor. However, Pepinster says it is clear that Pope Francis changed the institutions with many eyes of the church members. “Many Catholics feel that the church is a more compassionate place in many ways.”
