Was Pope Francis the Worst Pope Ever?

It has been said the recently passed 266^th Pope Francis (previously Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was at best a globalist or at worst a communist. But, in fact he was an Argentina socialist. He was a champion of all the wrong things detrimental to Roman Catholics everywhere. He (or any Pope) has no authority over Biblical Canon or Apostolic Succession. People have used contemporary terms to explain him such as “based” and “woke”.

Winger notes some of the words of Pope Francis not only did not square with past positions of the Catholic Church but could actually be heresy according to the Bible.

1. 0:05 {What Did the Pope Say?} Have some of the things Pope Francis has recently said been heretical?

The first point Winger addresses is when Pope Francis claims we should not defend our Christian religion. The Pope says if we say something like; my religion is more true or important than yours, it starts fights amongst ourselves. The Pope advocated there are different paths to arrive at the same God. Idolatry addressed in the Bible proves this is not true according to Romans 1:21.

From Eric Stolz, Roman Catholic deacon and author of the book “Ascend: The Catholic Faith for a New Generation”, we found these observations about Pope Francis after his first year as Pope:

• He refused to wear ermine-lined capes other popes wore.
• Rather than blessing the people in St. Peter’s Square on his election, he asked the people to bless him.
• He refuses to ride in a bullet-proof Mercedes limousine, riding on a bus with other cardinals right after his election, using a Ford Focus around Rome and driving himself around the Vatican in a 1984 Renault.
• He refers to himself as “Bishop of Rome” rather than as “Supreme Pontiff.”
• He is the first pope to use the word “gay” rather than “homosexuals” or “those suffering from same-sex attraction.”
• He has stated he intends to transform the Synod of Bishops to a decision-making body rather than a ceremonial rubber stamp.
• He refused to live in the Apostolic Palace, instead living in a guest home and dining in the cafeteria.
• He has consistently used a more familiar, direct and casual way of speaking, versus the highly formal and circumlocutory tone used by previous popes.
• He has spoken against clericalism, versus other popes who promoted clericalism, e.g. Pope Benedict’s “Year of the Priest”
• He has reached out to atheists.
• He sends personal hand-written letters and makes personal phone calls rather than having his secretary send formal messages on his behalf.
• He directed the Office of the Synod of Bishops to distribute a questionnaire to Catholic laity to understand their thoughts on marriage, contraception, divorce and same-sex marriage.
• He has called for a reform in how priests are trained so they don’t become “little monsters.”
• He has said he intends to decentralize the Church, de-emphasizing the role of the pope.
• He has stated the Church’s priority is service to the poor.
• He has reversed the previous pope’s favoritism toward those who insist on Latin and old-fashioned liturgical approaches.
• He has said the hierarchy should speak less about contraception, abortion and same-sex marriage, versus previous popes who specifically stated these were priorities for the Church.
• He gives interviews to media outlets.
• He has washed the feet of laity (in fact, prisoners, women and Muslims) on Holy Thursday, versus previous popes who would only wash the feet of priests. This is important because his act directly violates liturgical rules that state that only men may have their feet washed on Holy Thursday (a rule many priests and deacons also ignore worldwide).
• He says daily Mass in a public place, for janitors and secretaries and security guards, versus other popes who only invited wealthy and influential people to daily Mass in their private chapel.
• He has given a new profile to the post of the Papal Almoner (the person responsible for helping the poor in Rome) and has initiated new programs of gifts and other assistance to the homeless in Rome. He invited Roman homeless people to his birthday breakfast.
• He has instructed the curia and the nuncios (ambassadors) to nominate as bishops men who are merciful and pastoral, versus previous popes who directed that bishops be chosen for their doctrinal loyalty and willingness to pick public fights.
• He has announced he intends radical reform of the Vatican.
• He was named “Person of the Year” by The Advocate, the U.S. national gay and lesbian news magazine.
• In the first public document he wrote himself, Evangelii Gaudium, he cited as teaching authorities not just popes and councils, but national episcopal conferences, which no pope has done in the past. He has stated that national episcopal councils should be free to make doctrinal statements, while previous popes have sought to diminish the role of national episcopal conferences.
• He attracted in his first eight months three times the number of people who would annually come to see Benedict XVI.
• He enjoys an unprecedented 95 percent approval rating among Catholics in the United States.

CONCLUSION:

When Pope Francis passed away Pew Research reported that 80% of the Catholics of the United States approved of his leadership. But that poll may be deceptive due to the fact church attendance has gone down dramatically under Pope Francis. Of those who left Catholicism for an evangelical church, 78% said “their spiritual needs” were “not being met.” Many of those who left were said to have been disappointed with how the Catholic Church dealt with the clerical sexual abuse scandals.

Church giving of tithes and offerings has dropped more than 50% since 1990 and a further 29% since Covid-19. As a reminder Pope Office assumed his role in 2013.

Pope Francis and former president Joe Biden shared a common trait.

Both of these men often came off as incompetent in their roles and had many men and women working to do “damage control” for them after they would speak. For Pope Francis, he even came with his own new term, popesplainer. A popesplainer was a talking Catholic head who gaslit you into thinking that Pope Francis wasn’t preaching to what amounted to materially heretical statements.

Pope Francis was the first Jesuit priest ever elected to the papacy which was significant as it is a uniquely progressive order adhering to the “Jesuit Oath”. It has been reported that Jesuits [the Society of Jesus] are bound by oath not to seek higher office in the Roman Catholic Church. So this is what made Pope Francis such an odd anomaly.

Many Catholics are now saying aloud, “Never again!”

Alex Jones recently did a good job of explaining much of the world’s take on Pope Francis:

© 2025 by Mark S. Schwendau