How Will Pope Francis Be Remembered?

After some reading on Easter Sunday evening, I thought I had started to understand Pope Francis better. How ironic that he passed away the very next morning! While he may be remembered for compassion, I do not believe that he will be remembered as a great defender of the truth about marriage, family, and human sexuality.

While respectfully mourning his passing, host Raymond Arroyo, Robert Royal, PhD, and canon lawyer Rev. Gerald Murray spoke of the late holy father’s focus on political issues such as migration and climate change, as well as his confusing doctrinal messages and hostility toward the Latin Mass (cf, EWTN World Over, 4/23/25).

While he did not identify with “Liberation Theology,” economic inequalities impacted Pope Francis’ world view:

“As Pope Francis, his dedication to social justice was deeply rooted in the Latin American context. The region’s history of inequality, poverty and political upheaval greatly influenced his perspective…..He was a vocal opponent to economic inequality.... Despite existing tensions and contradictions within his papacy – particularly regarding the Church’s stance on LGBTQIA+ issues and women’s rights – Pope Francis’s approach to global issues remained steadfast and aligned with his core values, and the Buenos Aires he came of age in” (Dr Fernanda Peñaloza, 4/23/25).

Some might say that Pope Francis’ world view was simplistic:

"British development economist Peter Bauer once observed that all Third World countries had only one thing in common: virtually every one of their dictators employed the same Marxist charge to maintain power over their subjects: “Your poverty is America’s fault!’" (Christopher Manion, Charity for Sale, 2025)

God’s Magnificent Plan for Marriage/Family/Human Sexuality

After the 1960s’ “Sexual Revolution”, St. Pope John Paul II tried to reiterate the Church’s magnificent and timeless teaching on marriage, family, and human sexuality (See St. Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" on marriage/family/human sexuality (Catholic365, 9/6/23) and Familiaris Consortio (1981)). St. Pope John Paul II sought to return the truths of marriage, family, and human sexuality to their rightful and lofty throne.

During St. Pope John Paul II’s pontificate, the Vatican’s Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) and Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality (1995) also sought to rightly honor marriage, family, and human sexuality.

Having been St. Pope John Paul II’s closest collaborator, his successor Pope Benedict XVI was on the same page about the magnificence of marriage, family, and human sexuality.

Pope Francis on Marriage/Family/Human Sexuality

Nine years after its release, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia and the possibility of Holy Communion for divorced Catholics sexually involved with a non-spouse remains a source of confusion (cf, Catholic World Report, 3/19/25). As I wrote about the exhortation, near the time of its release:

“Following Scripture, the Catholic Church teaches marital indissolubility, the reservation of sexual relations to married couples, and the inseparability of the unitive and procreative dimensions of the marital act….As per George Weigel, ‘no pope can change the settled teaching of the Church’ (First Things, 3/30/16).” (Amazon review, 4/23/16)

I remain confused about Pope Francis’ treatment of the former Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik.

Pope Francis’ embrace of the heterodox Jesuit Father James Martin also long confused people.

Conclusion

Pope Francis displayed a media savvy that met with great praise. Those with the most positive reactions toward him saw him as acutely humble, un-assuming and loveable.

Though it may initially sound harsh, my own conclusion is simple: No one will remember Pope Francis as a great defender of Catholic teaching on marriage, family, and human sexuality. While much about Pope Francis confused me, I am comforted that not even a holy father can change God’s truth.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has provided us with a Novena in Memory of Pope Francis.

As Francis himself would have wanted, let us not forget to pray for the salvation of everyone.