Many people, including Catholics, were beginning to really feel disillusioned by the Vatican in recent years. It has been mired in all sorts of scandals, from the seemingly countless cases of sexual abuse of boys by priests, to the secrecy of the Vatican bank, the opposition of the Vatican to generally accepted things in most societies such as homosexuality, contraceptives, and women being excluded from becoming priests, among other things.
Not to mention the vast riches that the Vatican owns, all while allegedly representing a religion that is supposed to reject material wealth, and to focus on the poor masses.
So, to say that the Vatican needed some kind of a change is an understatement.
In comes Pope Francis, like a breath of fresh air. He is from another part of the world entirely, ending almost a millennium of exclusively European popes. This is the first pope from the Americas. He also seems a lot friendlier to people, able to relate to average people far better than any other pope in recent history. He reminds the faithful that they are supposed to treat each other as neighbors, that they are supposed to help the poor. He does not do this in a critical way, but rather tries to inspire the best values out of people.
To that end, he has rejected many of the excesses of the wealth and grandeur of the Vatican, and instead, tries to get around without the excessive entourage. So far, he seems to legitimately be attempting to reach across the aisle and connect with people, instead of focusing on self-righteousness and automatic, knee jerk judgments.
No wonder so many people find him appealing. That is particularly true of young people.
There was a worry that the Catholic Church had reached it's peak, and that people turning away from the Church would mark the beginning of a shrinking influence and number of followers. That still may be a concern, but Pope Francis has begun to appeal to people in a way that previous popes simply could not do. They represented the old ways. Francis represents a new, less arrogant Vatican. He seems to represent a new era, a new way of doing things.
It has been one year now since he assumed his role as Pope. He has ushered in changes that some would have thought unthinkable, and I believe the Church is the stronger for it. If it wants to have any chance of not going the way of the dinosaurs, it needs to get past the inevitable reservations of the more conservative, tradition-oriented members and leaders, and needs to embrace this change.
Frankly, I think that criticism of this Pope is misplaced. He is not bringing in change in the doctrine of the Church, but rather, trying to bring the focus back to it's stated ideology, and focusing on giving people hope, and making them better people. For that matter, he has not been shy in criticizing the traditional excesses of the Vatican, and the Papacy, specifically, and clearly feels uncomfortable with the focus on power and wealth that became the norm to such an extent, that it became the new tradition of the Vatican. I am not a Catholic myself (although I have a Catholic background), but I think the Church needed Pope Francis far more than they perhaps realized, or are willing to admit.
So, one year down. Let's hope he has a long reign at the top, and that he continues to make changes and serve as a real breath of fresh air to an institution that really needs it badly!
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