Pope Francis reached out to migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, but also drew unusual opposition

VATICAN CITY AP A few takeaways about the life of Pope Francis who died Monday Background Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born Dec to Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires Argentina the eldest of five children He was ordained a Jesuit priest in and led the religious order in Argentina during the country s murderous dictatorship from - He became archbishop of Buenos Aires in and elevated to cardinal in by St John Paul II He was elected the th pope on March on the fifth ballot FILE Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St Peter s Square at the Vatican Sunday Jan AP Photo Andrew Medichini file FILE Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he arrives to hold his weekly general audience in St Peter s Square at the Vatican Wednesday Sept AP Photo Andrew Medichini File FILE Pope Francis meets newcomers during his visit at the Karatepe refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos Greece Dec AP Photo Alessandra Tarantino file FILE Pope Francis left speaks to refugees wearing white caps during his visit to the island of Lampedusa southern Italy Monday July AP Photo Alessandra Tarantino Pool File FILE Pope Francis talks about gays saying he wouldn t judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference aboard the papal flight on the journey back from Brazil Monday July AP Photo Luca Zennaro Pool file FILE Pope Francis leaves after a meeting with the performers of the living nativity scene of St Mary Major in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican Saturday Dec AP Photo Andrew Medichini File FILE Pope Francis tries to catch his cap as wind blew it away while arriving for his weekly general audience in the St Peter s Square at the Vatican Wednesday March AP Photo Andrew Medichini File FILE Pope Francis is flanked by Mons Guido Marini right the Vatican master of liturgical ceremonies as he leads the Via Crucis or Way of the Cross ceremony in St Peter s Square empty of the faithful following Italy s ban on gatherings to contain coronavirus contagion at the Vatican Friday April AP Photo Alessandra Tarantino File FILE Archbishop of Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio leads a mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires Argentina Thursday Feb AP Photo Natacha Pisarenko file FILE Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St Peter s Square at the Vatican Wednesday March AP Photo Andrew Medichini file FILE Pope Francis greets faithful after celebrating Mass on the occasion of the Migrant and Refugee World Day in St Peter s Square at the Vatican Sunday Sept AP Photo Andrew Medichini file FILE Pope Francis wears a red scarf as he smiles while leaving St Peter s Square at the Vatican after an audience with with Altar boys and girls on Aug AP Photo Gregorio Borgia file FILE Pope Francis receives Cannoli Siciliani traditional Sicilian pastries as he meets with faithful of Pilgrimage of the Vocationist Family at the Vatican Monday May AP Photo Gregorio Borgia File FILE Pope Francis smiles to a nun as he walks in procession on the occasion of the Amazon synod at the Vatican Monday Oct AP Photo Andrew Medichini file FILE Pope Francis on the central balcony of St Peter s Basilica at the Vatican Wednesday March Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio who chose the name of Francis is the th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church AP Photo Gregorio Borgia File Show Caption of FILE Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St Peter s Square at the Vatican Sunday Jan AP Photo Andrew Medichini file Expand Francis Firsts The first pope from the Americas The first from the Jesuit order to be elected pope The first to take the name of Francis after St Francis of Assisi The first to visit Iraq meeting its top Shiite Muslim cleric in Humility and simplicity As Buenos Aires archbishop Francis denied himself the luxuries his predecessors enjoyed riding the bus cooking his own meals and regularly visiting slums This simplicity continued as pope marked by Francis taking the name of the th century saint known for personal simplicity He lived in the Vatican hotel instead of the Apostolic Palace wore his old orthotic shoes and not the red loafers of the papacy and set an example to the clerical classes by using compact cars Foreigners Advocating for refugees was one of Francis priorities as pope His first trip outside Rome in was to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to meet with newly arrived expatriates He denounced the globalization of indifference shown to would-be refugees He prayed for dead refugees at the U S -Mexico edge in and brought Syrian Muslims to Rome on his plane after visiting a refugee camp in Lesbos Greece His plea for welcome put him at odds with U S and European policies He declared in of then-candidate Donald Trump that anyone building a wall to keep immigrants out is not a Christian LGBTQ stance Early in his papacy Francis signaled a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ people declaring Who am I to judge when solicited about a gay priest In a Associated Press interview he declared that Being homosexual is not a crime and later approved blessings for same-sex couples provided they don t resemble marriage vows Environmental stance Francis became the first pope to use scientific details in a major teaching document and made care for God s creation a hallmark of his papacy In his environmental manifesto Praised Be urged a cultural revolution to correct what he called the structurally perverse global economic system that exploits the poor and turned Earth into an immense pile of filth Several popes before him though also called for better care for the habitat Clergy sexual abuse stance The greatest disgrace of his papacy came in when he discredited Chilean sufferers of clergy sexual abuse by siding with a bishop whom they accused of complicity in their abuse Realizing his error he invited them to the Vatican and apologized in person He also brought the entire Chilean bishops conference to Rome where he pressed them to resign He convened a summit of the Catholic hierarchy in on abuse and sent a strong signal by defrocking former U S Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after a Vatican probe determined he abused minors as well as adults Francis passed church laws abolishing the use of pontifical secrecy and establishing procedures to investigate bishops who abuse or cover up for predator priests But he was dogged by high-profile cases where he seemed to side with accused clergy His critics In his first years as pope critics had a living alternative in Pope Benedict XVI who had resigned and was living on the Vatican grounds That amplified the right-wing opposition to Francis modification agenda Specific called him a heretic after he opened the way in to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion In the Vatican s retired U S ambassador Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano published an accusation that U S and Vatican agents for two decades covered up McCarrick s sexual misconduct and demanded that Francis resign After Vigano amplified his criticisms and drew a following of his own the Vatican in excommunicated him for schism