With the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, the Catholic Church enters a pivotal period of transition that will shape its future path.

As the first pope from Latin America (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) left a lasting impact on the Church by championing a far-left agenda featuring social justice, wealth redistribution, global climate change, and a vision of greater inclusivity.

As a great thought experiment, and a complex one with profound implications for the coming years, let us consider the hypothetical of the future pope continuing to move the Catholic Church ideologically leftward, diverging further from traditional conservative values on the Church’s identity, governance, and its influence on the broader Catholic community.

Consider the implications of a transformative papal policy that reimagines the Catholic Church’s role in a rapidly changing world.

Some of the issues being discussed:

• Ordination of married men in regions facing priest shortages

• Reframing celibacy as a spiritual gift rather than a mandatory requirement — shifting the language from obligatory to voluntary

• More nuanced positions on divorce and remarriage

• Rethinking the role of women in significant leadership roles, including the priesthood

• More latitude for regional bishops’ conferences to adapt Church teachings to indigenous cultural influences

• Support for non-abortive contraception, framed as “responsible love”

• Full pastoral welcome for transgender and nonbinary Catholics

• A call for decriminalizing drug use and treating addiction as a public health issue

• Advocacy for restorative justice, prison reform, and an end to the death penalty

• A controversial appeal for global dialogue on assisted dying, especially in extreme cases of terminal suffering

• Open borders, framing migration as a “God-given right”

• International wealth taxation and redistribution to fight inequality and climate devastation

• Condemnation of the current elitist global order as “sacrilegious”

• Unprecedented transparency and accountability, especially in financial or sexual abuse scandals, which can result in the decentralization of power from the Curia to local churches.

Many believe that a more progressive pope might make the Church more appealing to younger generations, lapsed Catholics, and non-Catholics, especially in Western societies, by emphasizing topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion, women in leadership, interfaith dialogue, and climate action.

Of course, such a move would predictably widen rifts among traditionalist Catholics and those in traditionally conservative regions — particularly in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, where the faithful often lean toward orthodoxy.  

Then there is the danger of an unstoppable rift as a progressive pope would appoint like-minded bishops and cardinals, reshaping the College of Cardinals and making the next election likely to continue the same leftward trajectory — unless there’s a strong conservative backlash.

Bottom line…

Unfortunately, the leadership decision is not susceptible to persuasion by the media, the faithful, or others outside the eligible voting members of the College of Cardinals.

It should be noted that Pope Francis appointed 108 of the current 135 cardinal electors, many of them younger than traditional appointees, significantly shaping the future of the Catholic Church. This represents 80% of the 135 cardinals eligible to elect the next Pope. His appointments emphasized global representation, with cardinals from 76 countries, including 25 nations previously unrepresented in the College of Cardinals. Notably, he elevated prelates from regions such as Rwanda, Mongolia, and South Sudan, reflecting his commitment to a less Eurocentric and more globally inclusive Church.

The Catholic Church is at a crossroads.

Are the Cardinals willing to confront the evil of progressivism and Marxist-based liberation theology directly or moderate into a “go along to get along” leftward drift?

-- Steve