海角大神

He has earned no shortage of appellations since his election: the slum pope, the people鈥檚 pope, even the rock-star pope. He has 22 million followers on Twitter.

Pope Francis鈥� charisma and humility have charmed the world and re-energized the Roman Catholic Church, wounded by more than a decade of scandals over pedophile priests.

The Jesuit pontiff has endeared himself to millions with his down-to-earth behavior 鈥� cracking jokes in homilies about mothers-in-law; insisting on carrying his battered black briefcase on papal trips; and living in a modest Vatican guesthouse rather than the opulent Apostolic Palace apartments favored by his predecessors. He's set to be greeted with adoration again starting tomorrow, as he begins a five-day trip to Africa.

But what has he actually been able to achieve in concrete terms since stepping onto the balcony of St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica one rainy night in March 2013, after being elected to the Seat of St. Peter?

The answer, say Catholic Church insiders and analysts, is a great deal.

Pope Francis鈥� papacy is undoubtedly strong on gestures and symbols. But beneath the public relations coups, the pope has been busy enacting a series of far-reaching reforms. And while it's too soon to determine how those reforms will endure after his tenure, the magnitude of resistance within the church hierarchy indicates that the stakes are high.

'Profound change is underway'

Perhaps the most concrete change propelled by the pope is to the Vatican鈥檚 murky finances. From the very start, he has enacted far-reaching reforms to the scandal-prone Vatican Bank in an attempt to bring it into line with international norms of transparency and accountability.

The bank has in the past been accused by international regulatory bodies of turning a blind eye to money laundering, tax evasion, hidden sources of income, and other abuses. Those practices besmirched the reputation of what Forbes once called "the most secret bank in the world." It also failed to keep up with the stringent banking checks introduced worldwide after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

To remedy that, the pope has brought in outside auditors, overseen the closing down of some accounts, and appointed a new commission to oversee Vatican finances.

There is 鈥渁 certain urgency鈥� to these efforts, says Francesco Peloso, a Rome-based expert on the Holy See and the author of 鈥淭he Pope鈥檚 Bank 鈥� Vatican finances, between scandals and reforms.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 saying that the problem is very serious and that there are grave risks that unless it is addressed, it will continue to harm the image and credibility of the Holy See and the church," says Mr. Peloso. "Is the reform process finished? No. Will other scandals emerge? Yes, probably. [But] profound change is underway. A re-dimensioning of power is going on.鈥�

Pope Francis has also ordered procedural changes to how the church operates, including in September, when he decreed that the church should make it easier and quicker for Catholics to secure marriage annulments.

Though the pope made clear that the Vatican was not promoting or encouraging divorce, he said the procedure should be free, overturning the practice of Catholics having to pay the church hefty legal fees to have their unions annulled.

Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto, the head of the Vatican appeals court that rules on annulments, said the new rules were the most significant changes since the papacy of Benedict XIV in the 18th century.

Pope Francis is trying to 鈥渞ecover the credibility of the church鈥� but has found himself up against deeply entrenched interests within the Curia, the byzantine governing body of the Vatican, says Ignazio Ingrao, a broadcaster and Vatican analyst for Panorama, an Italian news weekly.

鈥淗e鈥檚 finding it more complicated and harder than he expected. He鈥檚 changed the heads of most of the main congregations and dicasteries [departments of the Curia], but he鈥檚 in difficulty and needs support,鈥� says Mr. Ingrao.

Iacopo Scaramuzzi, an expert on the Vatican and the author of 鈥淰atican Tango 鈥� the Church in the Age of Francis,鈥� says the pope has 鈥済lobalized鈥� the Vatican by dismissing or demoting many Italian officials and replacing them with prelates from other nationalities.

鈥淗e has changed almost all the top brass, from the president of the Vatican Bank to the Secretariat of the Economy. Nowadays there are Maltese, Germans, and Australians, rather than Italians. The Italian cardinals are in shock. The era in which the Vatican was a very Italian, even Roman, institution is over,鈥� says Mr. Scaramuzzi.

Magnitude of resistance

The fact that opposition to the pope鈥檚 reform agenda has emerged is testament to the fact that his changes are having an impact within the fortress-like walls of the tiny city-state.

Walter Kasper, a reform-minded cardinal from Germany who has publicly clashed with conservative opponents, recently criticized what he called 鈥渁 certain fundamentalism鈥� among traditionalists.

鈥淭here is a serious counter-offensive against the openings of Pope Francis,鈥� said Marco Politi, a veteran Vatican analyst and the author of 鈥淧ope Francis Among the Wolves 鈥� The Inside Story of a Revolution,鈥� a new book on the papacy.

That counter-offensive was evident during the recent synod in October, a gathering of around 270 bishops and cardinals from around the world. During the three-week meeting, they discussed acutely sensitive issues such as abortion, celibacy for priests, and the church鈥檚 attitude toward homosexuals.

While opposition to the pope has been expressed openly by conservative cardinals, there have also seem to have been covert attempts to undermine him as well, in the form of post-synod rumors about his poor health or mental acuity. The deliberate leaking of documents by Vatican insiders 鈥� which form the basis of two new books 鈥� is also being seen as a sign of the resistance that the pope is facing from a disgruntled old guard, which stands to lose power and influence under his ambitious reforms.

Reaching a point of no return

There remains much to do and 鈥� according to Pope Francis聽鈥� little time in which to do it. On several occasions he has said that he expects his to be a short papacy.

"I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief: four or five years, even two or three. Two have already passed,鈥� he said in an interview earlier this year. 鈥淚t is a somewhat strange sensation.鈥�

That is a signal of the urgency of his reforms, says Scaramuzzi. 鈥淲hen he says he thinks his papacy will be a short one, it鈥檚 a message to his supporters to say, 鈥楲ook, if we want to change the church, we don鈥檛 have much time in which to do it.鈥� 鈥�

Pope Francis is determined to 鈥渃arry the reforms to a point of no return,鈥� the Vatican analyst says. Some of them are already 鈥渞adical and irreversible.鈥� Though exactly where the pope will lead the church in the months and years ahead is hard to predict.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an old joke in the Catholic Church,鈥� says Scaramuzzi with a smile. 鈥淣ot even God knows what a Jesuit will do next.鈥�