Pope Francis remains in a critical condition and hospitalised as he battles pneumonia in both lungs. The first pope from the Americas and also the first to come from outside the west in the modern era, the Argentinian was elected leader of the Catholic church on 13 March 2013. At the time, the church was beset by crises, from corruption to clerical sexual abuse. Stan Chu Ilo, a Catholic priest and a research professor of African studies and world Catholicism, examines the milestones in the life, work and legacy of Pope Francis.
What did Pope Francis inherit when he took over in 2013?
By the time the Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013 there was a general feeling that the Catholic church was reaching the end of an era.
