From social justice to tackling abuse: 12 years of Pope Francis

During his 12 years as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis was a voice for compassion and peace, reformed the Vatican government and took action against clerical child abuse.

Here are some of the main achievements of the Argentine pontiff and the opposition he faced — and what he left undone.

Battle against sex abuse

Dealing with the worldwide scourge of sexual abuse by clergy and its cover-up was one of the biggest challenges for Pope Francis when he took office in 2013.

A 2018 trip to Chile proved a turning point. Francis initially defended a Chilean bishop against allegations he covered up the crimes of an elderly priest, demanding that the accusers show proof of his guilt.

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He later admitted 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 the cardinal title from abusive US cleric Theodore McCarrick, and in 2019 removed his status as a priest.

Also in 2019, he held an unprecedented summit that heard from victims, where he promised an “all-out battle” against clerical abuse.

Concrete changes followed, from opening up Vatican archives to lay courts to making it compulsory to report suspicions of abuse and any attempts to cover it up to Church authorities.

However, anything said in the confessional box remains sacrosanct— and activists say he did not do enough.

One campaigner, Anne Barrett Doyle, told AFP last year that the reforms had been “superficial”.

“Structurally, they retain all the elements of cover-up: lack of transparency, lack of external oversight, lack of mandatory severe sanctions,” she said.

Diplomacy

Francis travelled widely, making 47 trips overseas that gave priority to what he called the “peripheries”, countries with small or marginalised Catholic communities.

He regularly called for peace in hotspots such as Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine, and promoted dialogue with other faiths, particularly Islam.

The Vatican operates behind the scenes in many countries, with diplomatic successes including mediating the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba in 2014.

In 2018, the Vatican agreed a historic but also controversial deal with the communist government in Beijing over the appointment of bishops in China.

But the pope’s calls for peace in Ukraine failed to have any visible impact. In fact, Francis sparked outrage from Kyiv last year after praising those in the war-torn country who had the “courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”.

His calls for an end to fighting in the Middle East also fell flat, and he drew criticism from Israel in December after condemning strikes on Gaza as “cruelty”.

A liberal who loved being among his flock, the Jesuit sought to forge a more open Catholic Church, particularly toward divorced, married and LGBTQ members.

The approach angered traditionalists, in particular his 2023 decision to authorise blessings of same-sex couples in some cases.

The Vatican was forced to clarify its position after an outcry in Africa and the United States.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis strongly defended the rights of migrants, including criticising US President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.

Francis was also a vocal campaigner for the environment. In his groundbreaking 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” (Praise be to You), he urged the world to act quickly to tackle climate change.

Reform

From decentralising power and increasing transparency to providing greater roles for lay people and women, Francis implemented fundamental reforms of the Roman Curia, the central government of the Holy See.

Francis particularly took aim at the murky, scandal-tainted finances of the Vatican, creating a special secretariat for the economy in 2014, clamping down on corruption and stepping up scrutiny of investments and the Vatican Bank, which led to the closure of 5,000 accounts.

He also revolutionised the Synod, a Catholic discussion body, by involving lay members including women. Since 2021 it has looked at the future of the Church, but key decisions, such as allowing women to become deacons, were not due until later this year.

In his institutional reforms, again, Francis faced strong opposition, with some critics accusing him of “tyrannical” behaviour.