PROGRESSIVE Pope Francis, accompanied by bodyguards 6 feet away, walks outside the Vatican in 2020 on his way to pray for the end of the pandemic. The pope said that to be vaccinated was “an act of love” and hosted a conference with Big Pharma, angering critics who said he was “obsequious to social control.”


while praised for emphasizing evangelization, has been criti- cized for centralizing authority through the Secretariat of State, while relegating doctrinal au- thority to national bishops’ conferences, a move viewed by some as potentially leading to doctrinal inconsistencies.


Latin Mass Suppressed Francis has shown relatively


little interest in liturgical issues,


but he has continued what he and his aides have said is an “ir- reversible” path of reform that they claim is consistent with the Second Vatican Council. However, his decision to sup-


press the traditional Latin Mass in 2021 courted significant con- troversy, even from those who did not adhere to the custom. Welcomed by supporters


who, like Francis, saw many tra- ditional Catholics as dissenters


from his pontificate, the pope’s decree Traditionis Custodes shocked adherents of the old Mass in its severity. Many bishops initially ig- nored its instructions.


How Will History Judge Francis? Under Francis’ leadership, the


Catholic Church has drawn clos- er to worldly powers and non- believers, but arguably further


APRIL 2025 | NEWSMAX 65


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