On Monday morning, Pope Francis died at 88. The first South American to hold the office, he was known for his commitment to social and economic justice. WSJ’s Margherita Stancati discusses Francis’ legacy and explains what happens next for the Catholic Church. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: - The Return of Religious Films to Hollywood - The Mormon Church's $100 Billion Secret Fund Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened to Pope Francis and when did he die?
Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis graced the public with his presence outside the Vatican, for the last time.
He appeared on the balcony at St. Peter's Basilica. He blessed the crowd that had gathered there for Easter.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Pope seemed very frail and still breathless. Our colleague Margarita Stancati is based in Rome. Pope Francis had a life-threatening bout with pneumonia recently. He wished everybody Happy Easter. And then he also got on his Popemobile and drove through the crowd. And that was the last time we saw him in public. So this morning, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had died.
It was a shock because the Pope had appeared a few hours ago yesterday in public, and so it was really not expected. At 7.35 a.m.,
The Vatican said that the Pope had died at 7.35 this morning in his apartment in the Vatican. The death of a Pope is a huge deal for the Catholic Church. Popes serve until they die. So whenever a Pope changes, they can stay in their office for many years, even decades.
And so with the death of Pope Francis, what's the burning question that you as a reporter and Catholics around the world will have?
Well, Pope Francis was in some ways a social justice warrior. He was definitely seen as progressive within the Catholic Church. So the big question looming as the Vatican prepares to elect another pope is whether that legacy will continue with a new pope or he will take it in a different direction.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Monday, April 21st. Coming up on the show, Pope Francis has died. What's next for the Catholic Church?
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Chapter 2: Who was Pope Francis and what was his background?
Francis brought his personal ethos to the church itself. He criticized corruption in the Vatican Bank, which had been beset with scandal. His efforts there included improving financial transparency and preventing money laundering. And his progressive ideas were reflected in the way he approached issues that the church has historically opposed.
He was much more informal and he adopted much more lenient positions on issues that ranged from homosexuality to contraception to divorce.
And when asked about gay priests, he famously said, you know... If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him? Who am I to judge?
He did show greater openness towards the LGBTQ community. And that was something that really displeased more conservative Catholics. Just today, a group that advocates for LGBTQ Catholics said that Pope Francis had been a gift to the church and to the LGBTQ plus community. But he was still the head of the Catholic Church, which was still conservative.
He was quite critical, for example, of what he called gender ideology. So he was progressive within the framework of the Catholic Church, but he was still the pope.
And as pope, Francis used his voice to influence global issues.
He was also very outspoken. He criticized global capitalism. He spoke against wars. In his most recent address yesterday, he called for an end to conflicts in Gaza, in Ukraine, and in Sudan. He criticized governments for taking a hard line on immigration and has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration over this. He was especially critical of these kind of large scale deportations.
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Chapter 3: What were Pope Francis's key personal traits and lifestyle choices?
And is that unusual for a pope to speak out in this way? I think popes have weighed in on current affairs for a long time. Pope Francis was definitely not shy about it. He spoke out his mind and he very often weighed in on political affairs. And for example, he also called on political leaders to reduce carbon emissions and to combat climate change.
He wasn't scared to weigh in on some of the most sensitive social and political issues of his day.
It seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem.
The Pope's willingness to speak on sensitive issues and his insistence on living a modest life made him popular around the world. But he also faced a lot of criticism during his papacy, especially from those who felt he didn't do enough to crack down on sexual abuse within the church. For example, in 2018, the Pope had defended a bishop from Chile who was accused of covering up abuses.
Francis later said he'd been misinformed.
So no controversy during his reign rivaled the impact of the scandals over the sexual abuse of children by priests. The Pope had a no-tolerance policy over the abuse of children, but critics say he could have done more.
Just today, Bishop Accountability, which is a watchdog group that documents clergy sexual abuse, said that the Pope should have done more to remove and punish abusers as well as their enablers from the church. And they said that this will tarnish his legacy. For example, he did not adopt the practice of permanently barring abusers from serving as priests.
So broadly speaking, how did the church feel about Francis's approach? Was it generally approved of or did it cause tensions?
So Pope Francis was much beloved. He was a very popular pope, but his approach did cause tensions within the Catholic Church. So conservative Catholics, including cardinals and bishops, many of them in the United States, complained that the pope was blurring the lines on doctrine, on issues such as blessings for same-sex couples.
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