Pope Francis implemented during his pontificate a number of significant measures—from reforming the Roman Curia to combating sexual abuse of minors within the Church. Below is an overview of his most important actions as leader of the Catholic Church:

Reforms

Pope Francis sought to carry out a deep reform of the Roman Curia—the Church’s central governing body—in order to strengthen both the proclamation of the Gospel and the listening to local Churches. The Argentine pontiff aimed to decentralize the powerful Curia and give greater roles to laypeople and to women. In 2022, these efforts culminated in a new constitution that reorganized the dicasteries (the Vatican “ministries”) and placed priority on evangelization.

Francis also overhauled the Vatican’s opaque financial sector by creating, in 2014, a Secretariat for the Economy. A formal investment framework was introduced and anti‑corruption measures were adopted. He ordered the cleansing of the Vatican Bank, closing some 5,000 dormant accounts. However, these reforms were slowed by the COVID‑19 pandemic and by the fallout from the “Becciu case,” in which Cardinal Angelo Becciu was tried over a murky property deal involving the Holy See.

Fight Against Sexual Abuse in the Church

The proliferation of clerical sexual‑abuse scandals—from Ireland to Germany, the United States to Chile—became one of the most painful challenges of his pontificate. After a flawed 2014 expert commission and a controversial 2018 trip to Chile that ended in high‑profile resignations, Francis publicly apologized for having wrongly defended a bishop. He repeatedly asked forgiveness from victims and even sheltered survivors in the Vatican.

In 2019, he expelled former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick—found guilty of abusing minors—demonstrating a zero‑tolerance stance on such crimes. He also established a commission for the protection of minors, later integrated into the Curia, and convened an unprecedented Vatican summit that year. Concrete measures followed: the removal of the pontifical secret over such crimes, mandatory reporting by clerics to their hierarchy, and the creation of listening platforms in dioceses worldwide. The seal of confession, however, remained inviolate.

Diplomacy and the “Peripheries”

On more than 40 foreign visits, Jorge Mario Bergoglio deliberately went to the world’s “peripheries,” especially marginalized countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa. A staunch supporter of multilateralism, he denounced war and the arms trade and fostered dialogue among all religions. His historic 2021 trip to Iraq cemented a special bond with Islam.

In 2018 he brokered an unprecedented agreement with China’s communist government on bishop appointments. Under his watch, the Holy See also helped thaw U.S.–Cuba relations in 2014 and backed Colombia’s peace process. The Church he led opened channels in regional conflicts—from Venezuela to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, from Haiti to the Dominican Republic—but was unable to mediate in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. That war also stalled the gradual rapprochement with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, after their landmark 2016 meeting—the first between East and West since the Great Schism of 1054.

Migration, Environment and Social Justice

From Lampedusa—where migrants cross into Europe—to the Greek camp on Lesbos, the Argentine pontiff defended refugees and urged their unconditional welcome, recalling their flight from war and poverty. In his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, he called for a “green revolution,” criticized the irresponsible exploitation of God’s creation, and reaffirmed his commitment to “integral ecology.”

In 2020, after consulting global religious and indigenous leaders, he issued an exhortation defending the Amazon and introduced the concept of “ecological sin.” The COVID‑19 pandemic further amplified his calls for greater social justice.

“Mother can also fight, rifle in hand, when democracy is in danger,” declares French actress Bérénice Béjo, who plays a Guatemalan activist in “Mexico 86,” a Spanish-language film that strikes a chord for this daughter of Argentine refugees. “Mexico 86,” which is being released these days in several European countries, plunges into the struggle against the military dictatorship in 1980s Guatemala and is based on the personal story of its director, César Díaz.

Béjo steps into the role of a Guatemalan revolutionary activist who flees to Mexico, where she attempts to continue the clandestine fight. Hunted by the secret police, she tries to raise her 10‑year‑old son—whom her superiors would rather send to a revolutionary orphanage in Cuba. This role also echoes the origins of the 48‑year‑old actress, who was born in Argentina and whose parents had to take refuge in France, fleeing the military dictatorship (1976–1983) when she was still a baby.

“We are exiles, with parents who have allowed us to have a better life, but at the same time they really didn’t tell us the story,” the performer says. Alongside the director, “we realized that, in the end, we weren’t the only ones in this situation, and that it didn’t prevent us from moving forward. I’m very grateful for what my parents did—they sacrificed so that I am here. I seized the opportunity, I did something with it, and I succeeded, so they’re super proud,” she adds.

“But there will always be a story that will not be told,” continues the actress, who was honored for the film “The Artist” by her partner Michel Hazanavicius, and for Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past.”

To Reflect

Born in 1978 in Guatemala, filmmaker César Díaz left the Central American country at the age of nine for Mexico to reunite with his mother, who had fled years earlier because of the civil war. He has no memories of his father, a “political disappeared.” Guatemala’s 36‑year civil war (1960–1996) left about 200,000 dead and missing, according to official figures.

The story of “Mexico 86,” which reflects the pro‑democracy mobilizations in 1970s–1980s Latin America, “resonates with what is happening in the world today,” with the rise of authoritarian regimes, the actress continues. “Suddenly, we realize that at a certain point, when democracy is weakened […] we have to defend the things we love: freedom, freedom of expression, the rule of law, secularism. All of these are rights that have been won, and now that they are being undermined, we must go and defend them,” she points out.

“When there are people who feel the courage to do so, at the expense of their personal lives, it’s important to tell their stories, to say that it is possible—if you have courage, go for it! Whether you’re a mother, a single woman, a man, a father,” the actress believes. “In reality, it’s not easy for anyone,” she insists.

“There is no reason why only men should go and get involved, because in fact it is difficult for men to get involved—it’s painful, it demands a lot of sacrifice to leave behind your wife and children,” she emphasizes. “This kind of film makes you reflect. I, as a woman, tell myself ‘yes, it is true that it’s possible,’” the artist adds. “If you believe you can go and fight, rifle in hand, go ahead. Being a mother doesn’t mean you shouldn’t,” she insists.