Wrestling with Disappointment: Longing for a Braver Papacy

In the wake of Pope Francis’ passing, the world has seen an outpouring of gratitude and grief. Many have celebrated his humility, his care for creation, and his gestures of inclusion. Yet, among the voices in our community, there is also a deep sense of disappointment—a longing for a Church that is not only compassionate in word, but courageous in action.

Recently, a couple of readers wrote to me, expressing what I know many progressive Christians feel: that the adulation surrounding Pope Francis sometimes masks the real and painful shortcomings of his papacy. For all his warmth and symbolic gestures, Francis often stopped short of the bold reforms so many hoped for. He did not name Putin as the aggressor in the Ukraine war, echoing the silence of past popes in the face of injustice. He refused to open the diaconate to women, despite clear biblical precedent. He maintained the rule of celibacy for priests, even though the first apostles, including Peter, were married. While Pope Francis took some steps to address the sexual abuse crisis, many survivors felt his actions were not decisive enough, and his decision not to visit Australia was seen by some as a reluctance to fully confront the Church’s deep wounds.

Perhaps most painfully, his famous “Who am I to judge?” remark, which brought hope to LGBT+ Catholics around the world, was never followed by real doctrinal change. The doors of the Church, for many, remain only half-open.

The cost of caution

It is tempting, in moments of mourning, to focus only on the good. But as followers of Jesus, we are called to truth as well as love. The Church’s strength lies not in its ability to avoid criticism, but in its willingness to listen, repent, and reform. Francis’ papacy, for all its promise, too often chose caution over courage, symbolism over substance.

The wounds of survivors, the silenced voices of women, the longing of LGBT+ people for full inclusion—these are not minor issues. They are the measure of the Church’s faithfulness to the Gospel. When leaders fail to act, the Body of Christ suffers.

Praying for a braver future

As progressive Christians, we must not settle for half-measures or empty gestures. We honour the good in Francis’ legacy, but we also name the not-yet. We pray for a new pope who will be unafraid to speak truth to power, to name injustice, to open the doors wide to all whom Christ calls.

We pray for a Church that is not content to wave from the popemobile, but that walks with the wounded, listens to the silenced, and acts with justice and mercy. We pray for a leader who will not only speak of hope, but embody it in bold, transformative action.

Our calling

Ultimately, the work of justice and inclusion is not only the task of popes and bishops. It is the calling of every Christian. We are the Body of Christ, and the Spirit is still moving—sometimes in Rome, sometimes in the pews, sometimes in the honest, critical voices of the faithful.

May we never lose our holy restlessness. May we pray, work, and hope for a Church—and a world—that is more just, more loving, and more brave.

Come, Holy Spirit. Give us a better pope, and a braver Church.