A Remarkable Year

This month, a week from today in fact, we will celebrate the first anniversary of Francis' investiture as Pope. In one short year, this man has moved the thinking of the Church from the Renaissance to the 21st Century.

That, by itself, is amazing. How did this modest man accomplish so much in such a short time?

As you may recall, Pope Benedict decided that it was time for retirement. On March 13, I wrote a commentary called Art, Life and the Papacy  where I discussed the

emblem of the Papacy: Triple tiara and keys Français : emblème pontifical Italiano: emblema del Papato Português: Emblema papal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

need for the Church to elect a healer. Certainly Pope Francis has shown he is a healer.

On March 27, in response to a question posed to me by a friend, I wrote Civil Unions, Marriage, Matrimony  where I discuss the subtle differences between these terms. Francis has tried to define these terms over this year and has done so fairly successfully. 

In July, he was challenged to respond to the issue of gay priests while he was attending World Youth Day in Brazil. At that time, he uttered probably the most famous five words thus far in his papacy, "Who am I to judge?" On August 5 as a commentary to that event, I wrote Reconciliation .

In December, Time magazine named him "Person of the Year" partly because of his comments in July. 

On Wednesday, it was reported in USA Today  and elsewhere that in an interview which appeared in the Italian newspaper  Corriere della Sera, while marriage is between a man and a woman, civil unions appear to be practical ways to resolve legal issues, inheritance rights and access to health care. It also appears that he has moved the ball to allow additional discussion in the future.

This Pope has seemed to have opened the windows to the Apostolic Palace to let in fresh air. It is a refreshing start to a modern papacy. The actions taken this year by Francis have moved the Church forward almost 700 years in less than one. No other pope has accomplished so much so soon.

Let's see what the second year brings.