Vatican City.- Tomorrow Francis will celebrate 12 years of pontificate, since that March 13, 2013, when he presented himself to the world on the balcony of the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, and he does so in the hospital, where he is recovering from serious respiratory problems, while the world inevitably thinks about the future of the Church.
The Pope, who in his first speech already advanced the idea of a "Poor Church for the poor" Since then, he has focused all his efforts on reforming the Holy See to make it more transparent and effective.
Read more: Who is Pope Francis?
Now, at 88 years old and suffering from health problems, the uncertainty lies in whether he will leave the hospital with the necessary strength to continue his pontificate or whether, in either case, the next pope will maintain a reformist mentality or return to the conservatism of the past.
Greater presence of women in the Church
Before being admitted to the hospital on February 14, the Pope had been promoting one of the goals of his pontificate: a greater presence of women in the Church and in higher positions of power.
And he appointed nun Raffaella Petrini as the first woman president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, the body that exercises executive power in the Holy See, where she was already secretary general. Even when she was appointed secretary of the Governorate in 2021, she was the first woman to hold that position.
A few weeks earlier, Francis appointed Simona Brambilla, also a nun, as prefect (minister) for the Dicastery of Institutes of Consecrated Life: the first woman to head a dicastery, something previously generally reserved for cardinals.
Economic reform
In these 12 years, one of the Pope's achievements has been the complete overhaul of the management of the Vatican's coffers, which in the past was the subject of enormous irregularities, as demonstrated in various trials, including the one that convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu, former Substitute of the Secretariat of State.
With the creation of the Secretariat of the Economy, which manages all real estate assets and also the funds previously available to the Secretariat of State, the Pope has brought transparency and, above all, oversight to the accounts, which are now also finally public. He also approved measures to reduce cardinal spending and created a commission to raise funds in response to the decline in donations.
The fight against pedophilia
Upon his arrival at the "Throne of Peter," the Argentine pontiff made clear the importance of combating pedophilia within the Church and listening to victims. To this end, he created the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which he recently demanded provide an annual report on how the fight against abuse is progressing.
In recent years, it has also made dozens of legislative interventions and even eliminated the papal secret in these cases and forced the dioceses of each country to address them. However, this is failing, as the Church has not taken seriously obligations such as creating victim care centers in all of them.
Meanwhile, the Vatican continues to lack speed and transparency in reporting cases of abuse and the sentencing of the priests involved.
A less 'Italian' Church
For nearly nine years, the Pope and a commission composed of nine cardinals worked to promulgate the new Constitution "Praedicate Evangelium" (Preach the Gospel), which reforms the Vatican administration and its various dicasteries (ministries).
Francis has also left his legacy by electing 80 percent of the cardinals who will elect the new pontiff, completely changing the geographical distribution of the College of Cardinals, with many more representatives from distant countries, from Asia and Africa, who couldn't find space in the Sistine Chapel, and less representation from Europe and Italy.
Although this does not mean that the next conclave will be in line with Jorge Bergoglio's ideas.
The opposition that will speak at the next conclave
All these changes, such as blessing gay couples, have sparked resistance against Francis over the past twelve years, with the most ultra-conservative segment of the Catholic Church openly expressing its opposition to any decision the pontiff makes.
This wing could take the floor during the conclave to halt reforms and reverse some issues by electing a less active pope or a transitional pontiff.
