Pope Francis and His Legacy in Theology, Canon Law, Interreligious Dialogue, and Religious Leadership

Pope Francis greets believers in Vatican City / Shutterstock

The series brings together a group of Catholic thinkers to reflect on Pope Francis’s pontificate and legacy. The authors discuss the late Pope’s contribution to peacebuilding, human dignity, social justice, and environmentalism in addition to his reforms, often revolutionary, of Catholic theology, canon law, and the Church’s internal life. Pointing to peaks and valleys of the first Jesuit pope’s rule, they depict him as an extraordinary religious leader, tireless promoter of peace across the globe, and persistent defender of the vulnerable.

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Pope Francis and Gender Issues: An Ambivalent Legacy

Martina Bär is professor of fundamental theology at the University of Graz (Austria).

Pope Francis, who passed away on 21 April 2025, made notable strides in addressing women and discrimination within the Catholic Church, though his efforts were often characterized by a balance between progressive appointments and adherence to traditional doctrine.

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Francis’s Legal Revolution: A Reforming Impulse with Many Lights and Some Shadows

Montserrat Gas-Aixendri is a full professor of law and religion at Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain).

From his election in 2013, Pope Francis ushered in one of the most transformative periods in the Catholic Church’s recent history. His pontificate, characterized by prophetic gestures and bold decisions, was accompanied by an intense wave of legislative activity. Deep reforms—both structural and pastoral—shaped these years, projecting an image of a Church that was more proximate, synodal, and committed to transparency and justice.

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