Pope Francis (1936–2025), who led the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025, emphasized God’s infinite mercy throughout his pontificate. / Credit: EWTN News
Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
PopeFrancis’deathtodaymarkstheendofahistoric12-yearpapacy.ThefirstLatinAmericanandthefirstmemberoftheSocietyofJesustobeelectedpope,hislegacywillbeshapedbyhiseffortstobringtheGospeltotheperipheriesoftheworldandthemarginsofsocietywhileshakingup—sometimesvigorouslyanduncomfortably—whathesawasanunacceptablyself-referential,unwelcoming,andrigidCatholicstatusquo.
AfterPopeBenedictXVI’sunexpectedresignationinFebruary2013,CardinalJorgeMarioBergoglioofBuenosAireswasgivenamandateforreformonMarch13,2013,bythecardinalsintheconclaveconvened.
Aheadofthe2013conclave,the76-year-oldJesuitfromArgentinawasnotinitiallyconsideredafront-runner.However,afterhepresentedhisvisionforChurchreforminaspeechtothecardinalsleadinguptotheconclave,amajorityofelectorswerepersuadedthathewouldofferastrongresponsetotheongoingscandalsandchallengesro
