What's coming next from 'a man from a far country'? In his eight years as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has fundamentally changed the way in which we see the Church Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil, capital of northern Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region, on March 7. (Photo: AFP) Pope Francis completes eight years in office on March 13 after asking Catholics to look at the Church differently. Many of us still remember how depressed we all were during the last days of the rule of Pope Benedict XVI. Both he and his predecessor John Paul II had fettered the Church, clamping down harshly on freedom of expression and sabotaging several Vatican Council initiatives.