The death of Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff for 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, resonated Monday throughout the Mountai…
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Cardinal Kevin Ferrell says Pope Francis has died at age 88. The first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor. But he alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change. From his election, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio signaled a different papacy, embracing refugees and the downtrodden, especially following the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI. But conservatives grew increasingly upset with Francis’ progressive bent, outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and crackdown on traditionalists. He badly botched a notorious case of clergy sexual abuse in 2018. Bells tolled in church towers across Rome on Monday after the announcement.
When President Joe Biden meets with Pope Francis on Friday, the two men will have something important in common: They share many of the same enemies.
