UNITED STATES
The New York Times
Although Pope Francis has shown no intention of changing church doctrine on issues like homosexuality and contraception, he has clearly started to alter the tone of the papacy in his first 10 months in the Vatican, making it less judgmental.
“Who am I to judge?” he has said when asked about homosexuals. In an interview published in September, he said he thought the church had been “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to dwell on these issues.
More significant, as reported by Jason Horowitz and Jim Yardley in The New York Times on Tuesday, has been the 77-year-old pontiff’s efforts to focus the church more on ministering to the poor and marginalized, as well as his efforts to address the issue of child sexual abuse by priests after years of Vatican indifference and evasion.
Francis took a hugely important first step by appointing a commission to propose measures to end these scandalous abuses, and much of his legacy will depend on what action he and the commission take.
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