The Pope's Revolution

ABC
June 3, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/06/02/4014893.htm

[with video]

The Pope's Revolution

His first public utterance as the newly elected Pope was the simple greeting, "Buona sera - good evening". He refused to live in the luxurious quarters used by his predecessors, he washed the feet of young wrongdoers including two Muslim women and he wouldn't denounce homosexuality. But can Pope Francis move beyond words and symbolism to reform the Catholic Church in a meaningful way?

When Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope on 13th March last year he took the leadership of the world's largest religion. He also inherited an organisation wracked by scandal and controversy.

Weighed down by widespread allegations of child sexual abuse; divided by issues including gay rights and the place of women in the Church; tormented by allegations of corruption in its highest echelons, the Catholic Church was fast losing its moral authority in the developed world.

Next on Four Corners the BBC's Jane Corbin goes in search of the man we now know as Pope Francis. She looks at the reasons behind his election and his track record as a religious leader in the country of his birth. She travels to Argentina to speak with his family, his friends and his critics. Ultimately she wants to know if he has the stamina and the steel to reform the troubled organisation he now leads.

As the program reveals, there is a lot at stake and significant potential opposition to his leadership. Traditionally the power of the Church has emanated from the conservative, Italian-dominated Curia. Many of its members are wary of the kind of change a reformist Pope might bring. As one of Pope Francis's old friends warns, his job will not be easy:

"I believe he has strong enemies in the Vatican - cardinals - there is a lot of power, a lot of money."