Pope Francis is celebrating 12 years as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, with increasingly positive medical updates four weeks into his hospitalization for double pneumonia.
Francis, who was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on February 14, spent another peaceful night, according to the Vatican’s brief morning statement on Thursday. A chest X-ray confirmed improvements, the Vatican announced on Wednesday, just two days after doctors declared he was no longer in immediate danger of death. The latest medical bulletin noted that the 88-year-old pope’s condition remains stable but is complex due to his overall fragility.
Following the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, then-Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the new pope on March 13 of that year.
Over his 12 years in office, Francis has been a voice for compassion and peace. He has reformed the Vatican government and taken action against clerical child abuse, though challenges and criticisms remain.
### Battle Against Sex Abuse
One of the biggest challenges for Pope Francis when he assumed office in 2013 was addressing the global scourge of sexual abuse by clergy and its cover-up.
A 2018 trip to Chile proved to be a turning point. Initially, Francis defended a Chilean bishop against allegations of covering up the crimes of an elderly priest, demanding proof of his guilt. However, he later admitted to making “grave mistakes” in the case—a first for a pope. He summoned all of Chile’s bishops to the Vatican, after which they all submitted their resignations.
Later that year, he stripped abusive U.S. priest Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal title and, in 2019, removed his status as a priest. That same year, Francis held an unprecedented summit where he listened to victims and promised an “all-out battle” against clerical abuse.
Concrete changes followed, including opening Vatican archives to lay courts and making it mandatory to report suspected abuse or cover-ups to Church authorities. However, activists argue he has not done enough. “Structurally, they retain all the elements of cover-up: lack of transparency, lack of external oversight, lack of mandatory severe sanctions,” campaigner Anne Barrett Doyle told AFP last year.
### Diplomacy
Francis has traveled extensively, making 47 overseas trips prioritizing what he calls the “peripheries”—countries with small or marginalized Catholic communities.
He regularly calls for peace in hotspots like Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine and has promoted dialogue with other faiths, particularly Islam. Last November, he called for an investigation to determine whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
As the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has strongly defended migrant rights, including criticizing former U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation. On his first trip outside Rome, he visited the island of Lampedusa, where he met migrants fleeing North Africa.
Francis is also a vocal advocate for the environment. In his groundbreaking 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” (Praise Be to You), he urged the world to act swiftly on climate change, emphasizing that wealthy nations bear the most responsibility.
### Compassion, Social Justice, and Reform
A progressive who enjoys being among his flock, the Jesuit pope has sought to create a more open Catholic Church, particularly toward divorce and the inclusion of LGBTQ members.
This approach has angered traditionalists, especially his 2023 decision to authorize blessings for same-sex couples under certain conditions. The Vatican had to clarify its position after backlash in Africa and the United States. German Cardinal Gerhard Müller criticized Francis’s “doctrinal confusion” in a 2023 book.
From decentralizing power and increasing transparency to providing greater roles for laypeople and women, Francis has implemented fundamental reforms of the Roman Curia, the central government of the Holy See. These reforms were consolidated in a 2022 constitution that reorganized the Vatican’s dicasteries, or ministries.
Francis has also targeted the Vatican’s murky, scandal-tainted finances. In 2014, he created a special secretariat for the economy, cracked down on corruption, and increased scrutiny of investments and the Vatican Bank, leading to the closure of 5,000 accounts.
Additionally, Francis revolutionized the Synod, a Catholic discussion body, by involving lay members, including women. Since 2021, it has examined the future of the Church, though key decisions, such as allowing women to become deacons, are not expected until June this year.
In his institutional reforms, Francis has faced strong opposition, with some critics accusing him of “tyrannical” behavior.
On March 1, Pope Francis appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini as the new president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and as president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, making her the first woman to hold these positions in the Vatican.
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