BOSTON (MA)
KSPR

By Daniel Burke CNN
POSTED: 05:34 PM CST Mar 08, 2014

BOSTON (CNN) –
In some ways, the “Pope Francis effect” doesn’t seem very effective at all.

Despite the immense popularity the aged Argentine has won since his election last year, not a jot of doctrine has changed, nor has the Catholic Church swelled with American converts.

But there’s more than one way to measure a pontiff’s influence on his far-flung flock.

Start asking around — here in Boston and beyond, Catholics and atheists alike — and it’s easy to find people eager to share how one man, in just one year, has changed their lives. …

But Boston is also a city scarred by a church sex abuse scandal that harmed hundreds of children, demoralized dozens of innocent priests and broke the bonds of trust between clergy and congregants.

To say that Pope…