Observations on Pope Francis and the Vatican

Some observations derived from a New Yorker article: (Alexander Stille, "Holy Orders," The New Yorker, July 14, 2015).
*The scandal of sexual abuse reached its full force under Pope Benedict.

*Those close to Pope Benedict claim he was a transitional figure who started many of the reforms that Francis is now promoting: financial transparency, intolerance of priestly sexual abuser, the diplomatic opening between Cuba and the U.S., and reform of the Curia.

*In the early 2000s, the Vatican ranked among the top ten nations in the world that were considered "offshore" havens for tax evasion and money laundering.

*The Vatican banking system had more than 30,000 accounts and thousands of them were dormant or "irregular": they belonged to nonreligious people or entities that may have engaged in tax evasion or money laundering. A new financial team has closed around 4,600 accounts.

*Pope Francis'es use of the title of Bishop of Rome means he wants the Church to run in a more democratic way. Throughout history, the Vatican has veered between the Pope having sole decision-making power and the use of a council to make collective decisions.

* Pope Francis has created the image of an open and tolerant Church without changing Church doctrine very much.

*The chasm between Church doctrine and beliefs, and practicing Catholics has become dangerously wide.

*Some 32 million Catholics have left the Church.

*The Church as eased the situation for divorced Catholics.

*Critics of Pope Francis fear that he is introducing "Catholicism  lite."

The conservative pundit George Will says that Pope Francis stands against modernity, rationality, science and "the spontaneous creativity of open societies."