Pope Leo XIV faces major challenges on finances, sex abuse and Catholic rules

We have a new pope, but the challenges he faces are not.Pope Francis fashioned himself as a reformer, starting with his name — taken in part from St.Francis of Assisi, who was tasked by God himself to “rebuild my church.”The reforms most urgently needed when Francis assumed the papacy were a church in financial shambles and ongoing fallout from the sexual abuse crisis.While he certainly made progress in some areas, no one denies that his work on both fronts was left incomplete.The Catholic Church’s financial deficit only grew under Francis, and mere months before he died, Francis warned in a letter that the Vatican’s pension fund was in serious trouble and would require “difficult decisions.” One Vatican expert described it as a “five alarm fire.” Shortly before he died, one of the banks managing Vatican funds cut ties over ongoing money laundering concerns.The financial scandal haunted him even after his death, as the public face of Vatican financial scandals and corruption — convicted criminal Cardinal Becciu —  tried to force his way into the conclave, despite the late pope’s explicit directions that he be excluded.Pope Francis’ handling of reform over sexual abuse was convoluted.

He formed a commission that he allegedly neglected, and was then dogged by controversy such as accusing abuse victims in Chile of “calumny” – something he later walked back – and, near the end, of inaction about the disgraced artist Fr.Marko Rupnik whose eerie murals he did nothing about despite multiple accusations of Rupnik’s sexually abusing nuns.This is not to diminish the godly man that Francis was or taint his legacy.But like any institution, if the Catholic Church is to move beyond the scandal, we cannot do so with rose-colored glasses.Pope Leo XIV inherits a Church that remains in urgent need of good governance.

Which may very well be why he was chosen.America — while no exception to scandal — has a reputation for efficiency a...