Now, as the tenth anniversary of the election of the doctrinally conservative Pope Francis draws near, the National Catholic Reporter newspaper has started running a series of pieces about his pontificate:
For example, the American Catholic lay theologian Richard Gaillardetz (born in 1958; Ph.D. in systematic theology, University of Notre Dame) contributed "Pope Francis has opened the door for real church reform, but hasn't stepped through" (dated February 28, 2023):
In it, Gaillardetz says, "Francis is hardly a liberal on matters of doctrine." "Francis has by no means repudiated church teaching."
Gaillardetz's characterization of the doctrinally conservative Pope Francis is consistent with my succinct OEN profile of the pope: "Pope Francis on Evil and Satan" (dated March 24, 2019):
More recently in the NCR series, NCR staff reporter Brian Fraga published "For 10 years, Pope Francis outlasts the conservative resistance" (dated March 1, 2023):
In his somewhat lengthy article, which includes a number of photos, Fraga quotes a wide range of Catholic liberals, including Austen Ivereigh, Christopher Lamb, Nichole Flores, Nate Tinner-Williams, Massimo Faggioli, Cathleen Kaveny, and Mike Lewis.
In my estimate, Pope Francis' 2022 apostolic letter on the liturgical formation of practicing Catholics, titled in Latin Desiderio Desideravi (from the Latin version of Luke 22:15: "He said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'" [NRSV]) is one of the most important official documents that the pope has issued during his papacy. I discuss it in my OEN article "Pope Francis on Catholic Liturgical Formation" (dated July 4, 2022):
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