Pope Francis' Reforms

New York Times
January 15, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/opinion/pope-francis-reforms.html?_r=1

Although Pope Francis has shown no intention of changing church doctrine on issues like homosexuality and contraception, he has clearly started to alter the tone of the papacy in his first 10 months in the Vatican, making it less judgmental.

“Who am I to judge?” he has said when asked about homosexuals. In an interview published in September, he said he thought the church had been “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to dwell on these issues.

More significant, as reported by Jason Horowitz and Jim Yardley in The New York Times on Tuesday, has been the 77-year-old pontiff’s efforts to focus the church more on ministering to the poor and marginalized, as well as his efforts to address the issue of child sexual abuse by priests after years of Vatican indifference and evasion.

Francis took a hugely important first step by appointing a commission to propose measures to end these scandalous abuses, and much of his legacy will depend on what action he and the commission take.

The Roman Catholic Church is a less-powerful institution than it once was. Even so, it remains the largest religious organization in the world, with a formidable global network of charitable, educational and health services, as well as growing authority in the third world. Francis’ energetic efforts to unclog the Vatican’s stultifying bureaucracy, to bring more transparency to its dealings and to revitalize the ranks of prelates have captured the imagination of the world.

It will take time for his reforms to show results, but the early response suggests that many of the world’s Catholics (and not only they) welcome the turn away from rear-guard actions in the social wars and toward a church energetically engaged in the fight for a more equitable society.