Ten ways Pope Francis earned our respect in 2014

Friday, December 12th, 2014

In 2014, Pope Francis continued to exercise a fascination for members of his Catholic flock and for the rest of the world.

There was no papal pronouncement in 2014 to match his electric answer last year to a question about gay priests: “Who am I to judge?”

But the Jesuit pope from Argentina continued to press for a more transparent and engaged Catholicism.

But not all of what Francis said and did pleased the liberal Catholics who are his greatest champions.

The pope, who is loath to judge gays, did not alter church teachings about homosexuality and the “complementarity” of men and women that is at the heart of Catholicism’s teaching that only heterosexual marriage is part of God’s plan.

And at year’s end, he pleased church conservatives by installing a tradition-minded African cardinal as the head of the Vatican office responsible for worship.

Following are some high points the pope’s year:

Thinking about the poor

In January, the pope announced the appointment of 19 cardinals, including 10 from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. The emphasis on elevating clergymen from the developing world was in keeping with Francis’ emphasis on Catholicism as a church for the poor.

Getting the finances in order

Responding to financial scandals that may have figured in Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to retire, Pope Francis in February established a single office to handle all business, administrative and personnel management at the Vatican. The new secretariat for the economy is headed by Cardinal George Pell of Australia. (Later in the year, Pell revealed that his staff discovered hundreds of millions of euros “tucked away” in various Vatican accounts.)

Removing the ‘bishop of bling’

In March, Francis removed Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst as the bishop of Limburg, Germany. The cleric, known as the “bishop of bling,” spent $43 million on his official residence in Limburg. Renovations included a $20,000 bathtub, $620,000 in artwork and $1.1 million for landscaping. Continue reading