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Following his on Easter Monday, the focus shifts to his lasting impact. While some will note that the Argentine pope didn’t halt the of Catholicism in Latin America, where about half the world’s Catholics reside – a hope when he was chosen to lead the Vatican in 2013 – his significance as the first Latin American and Global South pope remains substantial.
Notably, Francis introduced to the Church the principles of , a forward-thinking ideology blending Marxist critiques of capitalism with traditional Catholic values concerning the poor and disadvantaged. This originated at the . During this assembly, Latin American bishops decided to prioritize liberating people from inequality, poverty, and political oppression, even if it meant deprioritizing spreading the Gospel. This led some Latin American churches to openly challenge military regimes about their human rights violations, resulting in political persecution for numerous clergy, including , the Salvadoran priest killed by a right-wing death squad in 1980.
Francis was an unlikely and flawed champion of Liberation Theology. During the 1970s and 1980s, when clergy linked to the movement faced excommunication threats and, worse, enforced disappearance by the military during Argentina’s “Dirty War,” Francis was . He preferred the more traditional “Theology of the People,” which emphasized the poor but without the Marxist criticism. However, by the time he arrived in Rome, Liberation Theology had become mainstream in Latin American Catholic thought. Francis himself had already welcomed many of the movement’s figures, including the , widely considered the founder of Liberation Theology.
Despite Francis never publicly acknowledging his intellectual debt to Liberation Theology, the movement’s effect on his papacy is clear. In his , Evangelii Gaudium, or “The Joy of the Gospel,” he the interconnected problems of poverty and inequality. He also urged the wealthy to share with those less fortunate. Directly echoing Liberation Theology, Francis mentioned the “idolatry of money” and condemned “unfettered capitalism as a new tyranny.” Furthermore, he urged politicians “to guarantee all citizens dignified work, education, and healthcare.” Expectedly, these remarks angered conservatives, especially in the U.S., who viewed them as an attack on capitalism and a subtle rebuke of Washington.
A second legacy closely tied to Latin America, which also contributed to Francis becoming a divisive figure on the right, is the environment. Francis the Vatican with the . In Laudato Si, or “Praise be to you, my Lord,” he argued for human-caused climate change, pointing out that human actions are significantly impacting the climate to the detriment of the world’s poorest. By identifying humans as a main cause of climate change, Francis drastically changed the Vatican’s environmental stance. Historically, the Catholic Church has generally been silent or in denial regarding climate change.
Much of Francis’ environmental concern stemmed from his awareness of how deforestation, pollution, and extreme weather events disproportionately affect the poorest communities in Latin America. He aimed to highlight this through a focused on the Amazon, the “lungs of the world.” It gathered hundreds of bishops, Indigenous leaders, and environmental activists from nine South American nations.
The third and final legacy, and perhaps the most unexpected, is the fight for LGBTQ rights. Francis’ papacy coincided with the Vatican significantly shifting away from its strong opposition to homosexuality, a stance heavily promoted by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who once described homosexuality as “.” While Francis’ record on LGBTQ issues is , as a reported shows, he consistently sought to find common ground with the gay community throughout his papacy.
In 2013, when questioned about homosexuals in the Catholic clergy, Francis : “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” A 2020 documentary about Francis’ papacy revealed that he was a . This was followed by announcements that priests would be allowed to and that , become official godparents, and serve as witnesses for Catholic weddings.
It is important to remember that Francis came to Rome after the intense culture war over same-sex marriage in Argentina, the , in July 2010. Ironically, Francis’ opposition to gay marriage in Argentina initially gave hope to many that his papacy would reinforce the Vatican’s long-standing opposition to LGBTQ rights. As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis called gay marriage “the Devil’s work” and mobilized Catholics against it, drawing criticism from President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who labeled Francis’ words as “reminiscent of the Dark Ages and the Inquisition.”
The divisiveness of Argentina’s gay marriage campaign led Francis toward more conciliatory positions regarding the gay community. Above all, the campaign’s emphasis on the humanity and morality of gay and lesbian couples deeply affected Francis. After the gay marriage law passed, he reportedly met with gay rights activists to explain that while he opposed gay marriage, he supported their fight for dignity and respect.
Pope Francis may not have saved Catholicism in Latin America, but he certainly shaped Catholicism to reflect Latin America. In doing so, he made the Church more progressive at a time when the far-right is growing globally. Whether this direction continues will depend on the . But one thing is certain: Francis will be difficult to replace.