10 years Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY: During his decade as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis (Picture) reformed the Vatican government, worked for peace and reconciliation, and cracked down on child abuse by clergy.

Here are some of the 86-year-old’s key accomplishments ahead of the 10-year anniversary of his election on Monday.

– reform –

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

Despite internal opposition, the reforms were enshrined in a new constitution that came into effect in 2022 and reorganized the dicasteries (ministries) and placed the goal of spreading God’s message at the heart of their mission.

Specifically targeting the Vatican’s dismal, scandal-ridden finances, Francis established a special secretariat for the economy in 2014, cracked down on corruption and tightened scrutiny of investments and the Vatican Bank, leading to the closure of 5,000 accounts.

However, the coronavirus pandemic hurt the Vatican’s revenue, while its efforts were overshadowed by the trial of senior Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former close adviser now accused of embezzlement in a London property deal scandal.

– fight against sexual abuse –

From Ireland to Germany and the United States, dealing with child sex abuse scandals by Catholic priests has been one of the biggest challenges for the pope.

Things didn’t go well initially, as a commission to protect minors was undermined in 2014 by the resignation of two key members, while in 2018 his defense of a Chilean priest accused of covering up abuse sparked a backlash.

In the Chilean case, Pope Francis apologized and acknowledged “serious errors”.

Later that year he stripped abusive US priest Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal title and in 2019 stripped him of his status as a priest.

The pope created a youth protection commission, which was later integrated into the curia.

And in 2019 he held an unprecedented victims-hearing summit where he pledged a “comprehensive fight” against clergy abuse.

Concrete changes followed, from opening up the Vatican archives to the lay courts to requiring suspicions of abuse and any attempt to cover it up to be reported to church authorities.

However, everything said in the confessional remains sacrosanct.

– Diplomacy, Ukraine –

During 40 overseas visits, the Pope has prioritized smaller countries in Eastern Europe and Africa.

A pacifist who regularly denounces the arms trade and defends the multilateral international order, Francis has also advocated dialogue with all faiths, particularly Islam, notably during a 2021 trip to Iraq.

Under his watch, the Vatican made a historic but controversial deal with the communist government in Beijing in 2018 to appoint bishops in China.

Diplomatic successes include mediating rapprochement between the United States and Cuba in 2014.

However, the Pope’s repeated calls for peace in Ukraine have so far been unsuccessful, while the conflict undermines his efforts to improve relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Francis met Russian patriarch Kirill in 2016, the first such meeting since the schism in the Christian Church in 1054, but their relationship has soured because of Kirill’s strong support for Moscow.

– Social justice

The Jesuit Pope has been a vocal campaigner for the environment and has repeatedly railed against capitalism and inequality.

With his landmark 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, he urged the world to act quickly to tackle climate change, saying rich countries bear the greatest responsibility.

The son of Italian immigrants in Argentina, Francis, has also criticized what he sees as global indifference to the plight of the refugees and paid an early visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa, the landing point for thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. –AFP