Francis didn't live up to promise as 'pope of the poor'

MSN - 21/04
Pope Francis slammed capitalism and ecological destruction, washed the feet of incarcerated youth and preached tolerance. But Latin America's first pontiff didn't fulfill all expectations in the Global South.

The pontificate of Pope Francis, which began with much promise in March 2013, has now come to an end. In one of his first acts, he had washed the feet of incarcerated youth at a detention center ahead of Easter.

Millions attended the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro that July, cheering when the new pope spoke of "an option for the poor" and slammed capitalism.

"This pope will change the church," the Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff told DW at the time.

And Francis, formerly Jorge Mario Bergoglio, did indeed change the church.

"The pope already did a lot for the poor in his diocese during his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires," Miguel Hirsch, an Argentine journalist who has written a book about Francis, to...
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