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TMI BlogPope Francis reached out to migrants, LGBTQ+ community, but also drew unusual oppositionX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Pope Francis reached out to migrants, LGBTQ+ community, but also drew unusual opposition X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st in 1969 and led the religious order in Argentina during the country's murderous dictatorship from 1976-83. He became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and elevated to cardinal in 2001 by St. John Paul II. He was elected the 266th pope on March 13, 2013, on the fifth ballot. Francis' Firsts — The first pope from the Americas. — The first from the Jesuit order to be elected pope. — The fir ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st to take the name of Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi. — The first to visit Iraq, meeting its top Shiite Muslim cleric in 2021. Humility and simplicity As Buenos Aires archbishop, Francis denied himself the luxuries his predecessors enjoyed, riding the bus, cooking his own meals and regularly visiting slums. This simplicity continued as pope, marked by Francis taking the name of the 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 3th century saint known for personal simplicity. He lived in the Vatican hotel instead of the Apostolic Palace, wore his old orthotic shoes and not the red loafers of the papacy, and set an example to the clerical classes by using compact cars. Migrants Advocating for migrants was one of Francis' priorities as pope. His' first trip outside Rome in 2013 was to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o meet with newly arrived migrants. He denounced the “globalisation of indifference” shown to would-be refugees. He prayed for dead migrants at the US-Mexico border in 2016 and brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Rome on his plane after visiting a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece. His plea for welcome put him at odds with US and European policies. He said in 2016 of then-candidate Donald Trump that any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... one building a wall to keep migrants out “is not a Christian”. LGBTQ+ stance Early in his papacy, Francis signalled a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ+ people, declaring “Who am I to judge?” when asked about a gay priest. In a 2023 Associated Press interview, he declared that, “Being homosexual is not a crime”, and later approved blessings for same-sex couples, provided they don't resemble m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arriage vows. Environmental stance Francis became the first pope to use scientific data in a major teaching document and made care for God's creation a hallmark of his papacy. In 2015, his environmental manifesto “Praised Be”, urged a cultural revolution to correct what he called the “structurally perverse” global economic system that exploits the poor and turned Earth into “an immense pile of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... filth”. Many popes before him, though, also called for better care for the environment. Clergy sexual abuse stance The greatest scandal of his papacy came in 2018, when he discredited Chilean victims of clergy sexual abuse by siding with a bishop whom they accused of complicity in their abuse. Realising his error, he invited them to the Vatican and apologised in person. He also brought th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e entire Chilean bishops conference to Rome, where he pressed them to resign. He convened a summit of the Catholic hierarchy in 2019 on abuse and sent a strong signal by defrocking former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after a Vatican investigation determined he abused minors as well as adults. Francis passed church laws abolishing the use of pontifical secrecy and establishing procedures to i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nvestigate bishops who abuse or cover up for predator priests. But he was dogged by high-profile cases where he seemed to side with accused clergy. His critics In his first years as pope, critics had a living alternative in Pope Benedict XVI, who had resigned and was living on the Vatican grounds. That amplified the right-wing opposition to Francis' reform agenda. Some called him a heretic a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fter he opened the way in 2016 to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion. In 2018, the Vatican's retired US ambassador Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano published an accusation that US and Vatican officials for two decades covered up McCarrick's sexual misconduct and demanded that Francis resign. After Vigano amplified his criticisms and drew a following of his own, the V ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... atican in 2024 excommunicated him for schism. (AP) PY PY X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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