Pope Francis

Pope Francis still has the world’s attention. The first pope from the Americas, who liked to walk and chat his way through the slums of Buenos Aires, Francis quickly stamped a down-to-earth style on the papacy, salvaging the image of a scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church. But he has bigger goals — to change not only the church but the world, speaking out on issues ranging from climate change to capitalism’s role in creating poverty. The crowd-hugging pope also has a steely streak: He regularly lashes out at political and business leaders, and at the Vatican bureaucracy. His legacy may depend on whether he can leverage the approval his humility has won to push through his often-uncomfortable ideas.

The pope’s agenda has provoked resistance among some conservative cardinals in the Vatican and he clashed with Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. After visiting the Mexican border, Francis criticized Trump’s strict stance on immigration. He and Trump also have opposing viewpoints on refugees, climate change and inequality. But Francis said he would keep an open mind before meeting Trump at the Vatican in May as part of the president's first overseas trip. The pope has ruffled feathers elsewhere as well. On a trip to Africa, he called corruption a “new form of colonialism” and became the first pope in memory to visit a war zone. After a tumultuous synod, or extraordinary meeting of bishops, Francis in 2016 issued a document calling for a more conciliatory attitude toward divorcees who have remarried outside the Church, while maintaining strong opposition to same-sex marriage. Leaked tapes showed the pope pushing for changes in the church’s finances and criticizing its spending as “out of control.” In 2015, Francis endorsed the science of climate change; a poll taken afterwards found his popularity had fallen. But Francis continues to attract crowds not seen since John Paul II, the Polish priest who challenged Soviet domination of his homeland. In Manila in January 2015, he drew 6 million people to Mass, the biggest audience ever at a papal event.