Don't show me this message again✕
Pope Francis leading the Sunday Angelus prayer from his window at the Vatican on 4 July
(AFP/Getty)
Pope Francis has often seemed like a pontiff in a hurry.
In his eight-year papacy, he has tirelessly sought to reshape the Roman Catholic Church in a more pastoral image, and has elevated more than half of the College of Cardinals – the body that will elect his successor. He has opened previously taboo debates about married priests, the role of women in the Church, the welcoming of gay Catholics, and holy communion for the divorced and remarried. He has kept up an exhausting schedule of travel around the world.