kind of optimistic about this guy so far. i'm not religious, but his title has more influence than most world leaders. now if he can just reverse the church's position on birth control and and encourage family planning.

Pope Francis made news last week when he said he wouldn’t “judge” gay priests, garnering praise and criticism from fellow Catholics.
The comments he’s made in the past year seem to show this pope is more moderate than his predecessors without really changing any of the tenets of Catholicism.
As the leader of the largest Christian church, with more than a billion members, the pope’s comments carry weight — both for those looking for him to open the door, even a tiny bit, on changes to the church’s doctrine, and for those more traditional Catholics who don’t want to see that change.
Whatever a pope says, his words are dissected and examined for meanings beyond the obvious. If you look at his comments starting in May, he seems to be welcoming those who don’t always see eye to eye with the church or those who feel left out, even the atheists.
In delivering a homily in May, Francis said: “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. … We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: We will meet one another there.”
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The Pope has stepped up the fight against corruption at the Vatican by strengthening supervision of financial transactions at its internal bank.
Pope Francis issued a decree designed to combat money-laundering and prevent any financing of terrorism.
It is the latest move to stamp out abuses at the Vatican bank, which handles funds for the Catholic Church.
The Pope recently set up a commission to investigate the bank and report back to him personally.
Last month the Vatican froze the account of a senior cleric, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, suspected of involvement in money-laundering.
He and two others were arrested by Italian police in June on suspicion of trying to move 20m euros ($26m; £17m) illegally.