Francis was a pope prepared to blur the edges of doctrine, or at least its application, opening the doors of the Church to all those seeking love, mercy and forgiveness. He never doubted God's capacity to love and forgive all who sought that love and forgiveness. He maintained the certainty, not of doctrine but of the simple piety of believers.
The Argentinian Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a serious contender for the papacy at the conclave which elected Joseph Ratzinger in 2005. The cardinals who voted for Ratzinger saw him as a faithful preserver of all that Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyla) had achieved in his long papacy from 1978 until his death in 2005. Ratzinger as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had provided much of the intellectual ballast for John Paul's theological positions. The election of Ratzinger was a vote for continuity as the Catholic Church continued to wrestle with the changes wrought by the Second Vatican Council which had concluded in 1965. Wojtyla had been a key bishop at that council, and Ratzinger was one of the Council's bright, up-and-coming theological advisers. By 2013, the papacy had all become too much for Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). A great intellectual, he was not given to the burdens of administration and political intrigue within the Vatican Curia besieged by scandals of child sexual abuse and financial maladministration. Ratzinger resigned and a conclave convened. Bergoglio aged 76 thought there was no chance of his being elected this time around. He came to Rome with nothing to lose and nothing to gain. He spoke freely in the pre-conclave meetings about the challenges confronting the church. Unlike Wojtyla and Ratzinger, he did not think the major challenges were doctrinal. He was fearless while at the same time preaching a message of mercy, love and inclusion. Unlike his predecessors, he was not from Europe. He had been instrumental in giving the Church in South America new vision and zeal through the meetings of bishops at Aparecida. He arrived in Rome for the 2013 conclave, having booked his return flight to Buenos Aires, expecting to return home promptly after the conclave. After his surprising election, he phoned his newsagent to cancel his daily newspaper delivery. He never returned to his beloved Argentina. Unlike Wojtyla…