The current successor to Peter is certainly a breath of fresh air, but is Pope Francis really up for a radical reform of the Catholic Church? A Christian historian admires his approach and ideals but is not yet convinced of the outcome
From the first moments of his pontificate, Papa Bergoglio’s humanity and shrewd sense of the power of gesture have given the papacy a new cultural credibility. The “Buona sera” from the balcony, the canteen meals in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the shabby saloon car in place of a whispering Mercedes, the insistence on the poor as the Church’s overriding priority, have all worked wonders. When Guardian journalists single out the Pope as an icon of left-leaning liberal values, it is obvious that something remarkable is afoot. After
06 March 2014, The Tablet
Style is not enough
Analysis of Pope Francis’ first year: the academic
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