{"id":55178,"date":"2025-04-21T20:32:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T20:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion"},"modified":"2025-05-08T21:12:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:12:47","slug":"pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis: A decade of reform, controversy, and compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio<\/b> became the first Pope from the Americas<\/b> and the first Jesuit pontiff<\/b>, choosing the name Francis<\/b> in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi<\/b>. His election raised expectations of significant reforms within the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

With a background in chemistry<\/b>, Francis was ordained a priest in 1969<\/b> and later led the Jesuit order in Argentina<\/b>. He positioned himself as the Pope of the poor<\/b>, advocating for the homeless, migrants, and refugees<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

Francis confronted clerical sex abuse<\/b>, admitting the Church\u2019s silence and complicity<\/b> in protecting abusive priests. He lifted secrecy laws<\/b>, ordered full cooperation with justice, and supported LGBTQ+ rights<\/b>, backing same-sex civil unions<\/b>.<\/p>\n

However, his stance on abortion<\/b> remained firm: \u2013 Pope Francis<\/p>\n

Francis addressed Vatican banking scandals<\/b>, launching an ethics commission<\/b> to oversee investments. He also fostered interfaith dialogue<\/b>, strengthening ties with the Russian Orthodox Church<\/b>\u2014a relationship later strained by the Ukraine war<\/b>, where he denounced Patriarch Kirill as ‘Putin\u2019s altar boy.’<\/b><\/p>\n

Francis met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/b> and sent an envoy to mediate peace<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Pope Francis<\/p>\n

Despite declining health, Francis continued shaping the Church\u2019s future, appointing 21 new cardinals<\/b>, increasing the likelihood of a successor aligned with his vision. However, he struggled with a loss of faith in Latin America<\/b>, a region close to his heart.<\/p>\n

As his pontificate progressed, Pope Francis remained a polarizing yet transformative leader<\/b>, leaving a profound impact on the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

Source: Africanews<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit pontiff, choosing the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. His election raised expectations of significant reforms within the Catholic Church. With a background in chemistry, Francis was ordained a priest in 1969 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[245,5661,2495,2795],"class_list":["post-55178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-lesotho","tag-pope","tag-pope-francis","tag-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Francis: A decade of reform, controversy, and compassion - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit p ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Francis: A decade of reform, controversy, and compassion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit p ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-21T20:32:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-08T21:12:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/04\/sm_1745253001.895637.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Pope Francis: A decade of reform, controversy, and compassion\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-21T20:32:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-08T21:12:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion\"},\"wordCount\":259,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/04\/sm_1745253001.895637.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\",\"Pope\",\"Pope Francis\",\"Vatican\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/pope-francis-a-decade-of-reform-controversy-and-compassion\",\"name\":\"Pope Francis: A decade of reform, controversy, and compassion - 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