Pope Francis dies at 88: Five controversies surrounding the Catholic Church leader
During his 12 years of service as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis often became a subject of criticism and controversy
Pope Francis died on Monday at the age of 88 after a prolonged health battle. The Catholic leader was the first Latin American pontiff and was hailed for showing deep concern for the poor and marginalised sections of society. As his views often pushed the Church's boundaries, he became a subject of controversy and criticism many times during his 12 years of service. Here's a look at some of his most contentious moments:
‘All religions are a path to reach God’ - Pope Francis
Francis' remarks about God and his views on other faiths during an interreligious meeting in Singapore sparked a debate. “All religions are a path to reach God. They are – I make a comparison – like different languages, different idioms, to get there. But God is God for everyone,” he said at the Catholic Junior College of Singapore in 2024, per The Pillar.
“And since God is God for everyone, we are all children of God. ‘But my God is more important than yours!’ Is this true? There is only one God, and our religions are languages, paths to reach God. Some are Sikh, some are Muslim, some are Hindu, some are Christian, but they are different paths,” the late pontiff added at the time.
Pope Francis' stance on gay priests
In 2013, the late Pope got candid about his stance on gay priests, saying, “Who am I to judge?” their sexual orientation, according to Associated Press. He made the controversial remarks during an interview aboard his plane upon returning from his first papal trip to celebrate World Youth Day in Brazil. “We shouldn’t marginalize people for this. They must be integrated into society,” Francis told reporters at the time, adding, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
‘Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil’
Amid the alarming rise in Zika virus through Central and South America in 2016, Francis declared that contraception may be the “lesser of two evils,” per ABC News. “Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil,” he said at the time, adding, “In certain cases, as in this one, such as the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear. I would also ask doctors to do their utmost to find vaccines against these mosquitoes that carry this disease. This needs to be worked on.” However, he did clarify that abortion is “an absolute evil,” whatever may be the case.
Pope Francis on feminism
During the Vatican's anti-paedophilia summit in 2019, Francis rejected the idea that a woman participating in the event was an act of feminism. “To invite a woman to speak is not to enter into the modality of an ecclesiastical feminism, because after all, all feminism ends up being a machismo in skirts,” he said, referring to Italian professor of Canon Law, Linda Ghisoni's speech, Marca reported.
When Pope Francis apologised for using homophobic slur
In 2024, the Vatican issued an apology after Francis allegedly used a derogatory homophobic slur during a closed-door discussion about gay men. While discussing the admission of homosexual men into seminaries, the pontiff allegedly said that seminaries are already full of “frociaggine,” which roughly translates to “f****try” in English, according to several Italian media reports.
Following the outrage over Francis' choice of words, Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, said in a statement per BBC, “Pope Francis is aware of the articles that have come out recently concerning a conversation he had with bishops... behind closed doors.” “The Pope never meant to offend or to use homophobic language, and apologises to everyone who felt offended [or] hurt by the use of a word.”
