Analysis: Pope Francis' legacy marked by reform efforts, outreach to 'marginalized'

"God is not afraid of new things! That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways."

So declared Pope Francis in October 2014, just over a year-and-a-half after he was elected, as he beatified Pope Paul VI, who led the Catholic Church nearly two generations earlier.

Indeed, from the moment he assumed the position, Pope Francis the first pontiff from the Americas in the history of the Roman Catholic Church introduced a change of style and focus to the office.

Pope Francis, who died on Monday, called for "a church for the poor," a church that would reach out to what he called the "peripheries." He called for a humble, more merciful and inclusive church, and repeatedly remembered the "marginalized" people in society.

His papacy brought a series of firsts to the role, which endeared him to people all over the world. Among these: He was the first to take the name Francis, after the medieval friar St. Francis of Assisi, who vowed to live in poverty.

Francis was the first Jesuit pope; the first to live next door to his retired predecessor, Benedict XVI, in Vatican City; the first to carry his own briefcase onto flights; and the first pope to travel in a small car instead of a limousine. He was also the first to name cardinals in 27 countries that had never before had one, including East Timor (Timor-Leste), Singapore, Mongolia, and New Guinea. Francis was the first pope to journey to a war zone, to grant dozens of one-on-one interviews with journalists, pose for innumerable selfies with admirers, and the first to marry two flight attendants in an impromptu in-flight wedding.

On his first day as pope in March 2013, he appeared at his cardinal lodgings in Rome in a simple white papal cassock and black shoes to pick up his luggage and settle his bill. Taking office, he immediately shed most of the papal trappings and chose to live in rooms in the Vatican guest house instead of the papal residence in Vatican City.

Watch "Francis: The People's Pope 1936-2025," Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT on ABC.

Francis also sought to better adjust the church to the changing, modern world. Like previous popes, he issued stark warnings against what he saw as dangers: war and armaments, environmental destruction, the death penalty, abortion, and a "throwaway culture" that doesn't care about the poor, homeless, disabled, elderly, migrants and refugees. He spoke of living the so-called third world war being "fought piecemeal" around the globe as he called for peace and a stop to all conflicts most insistently in what he called the "martyred Ukraine," and the war in Gaza. But his calls often remained unheeded.

Pope Francis held the church's position on doctrinal matters but introduced a softer approach to those who didn't follow the church's teaching, especially regarding LGBTQ+ people. When a journalist asked him a question about gay priests on his first foreign trip, just four months after his election, Francis stunned people with his response: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?"

He didn't move the church from its doctrine of holding homosexuality as sin, but throughout his papacy, Francis took meetings with advocates and offered an open tone. In a January 2023 interview with the Associated Press, Francis declared that "being gay is not a crime," and that laws criminalizing it were "unjust" an ostensibly political statement and an unprecedented papal nudge toward governments regarding LGBTQ+ rights.

Although sometimes criticized for not consulting his advisers, or for not using the hierarchical offices of the church before making pronouncements, Francis insisted he wanted a more "synodal" way of deciding the future path of the church, through collaboration and openness. This, he said, should include listening to each member of the church and bringing about a wider consultation among the laity on all issues.

Francis led the Church during the global coronavirus pandemic, and celebrated the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, liturgy from an almost-deserted St. Peter's Square in 2021, when churches around the world were closed and people were forced to stay at home to stop COVID-19's spread.

He also appointed more women, both clerical and laity, to leadership roles, and sought to root out "clericalism" and financial corruption in the Vatican. Regarding the latter, Francis took the unprecedented step of allowing a cardinal to stand trial for alleged financial crimes, of which he was convicted and sentenced to more than five years in prison.

The third pope to have to deal with the scandal of thousands of instances of clerical sexual abuse of minors, Pope Francis worked to improve the way the church dealt with the many cases. But although he introduced new rules advocating for more transparency on the part of the church, and care of the victims, he was unsuccessful in forging a clear message and winning full Church support for his endeavors. Francis was ultimately obliged to admit mistaken judgement in a number of cases, while the Church's lack of transparency in handling a number of high-profile abuse cases would haunt him throughout his pontificate.

Like his three predecessors, Francis travelled by plane all over the globe on his 44 international trips. He never visited his homeland, Argentina, but he travelled to several countries that had never previously been visited by a pope, including the Muslim-majority countries Bahrain, Iraq and United Arab Emirates, as well as Myanmar, North Macedonia, and South Sudan.

During his travels, Francis endeared himself to the millions of faithful as he was seen being driven in a small, utilitarian car, often a Fiat 500, to go to his official meetings and ceremonies. Later, due to his increasing difficulties walking, he would be pushed in a wheelchair or, if he walked, was forced to use a walking stick.

Francis forged strong friendships with other religious leaders and expanded the church's outreach to the Muslim and Arab world. This included participating in a high-level interfaith meeting in Abu Dhabi in 1029, and signing a joint Document of Human Fraternity with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, that same year.

On the pope's three-city trip to the United States in 2015, he stressed that environmental issues were human rights issues, warning the United Nations General Assembly that "any harm done to the environment...is harm done to humanity." During that same visit, in the first speech by a pope delivered to Congress, he admonished lawmakers, saying in part: "Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: Money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood."

As much as he attempted to soften the Church's traditional, rigid stance on many issues, Pope Francis wasn't above expressing his frustration with the institution of which he was the head. Just four years after his election, in his 2017 Christmas address, he lectured cardinals and bishops for obstructing his work, declaring, "Making reforms in Rome is like cleaning the Sphinx with a toothbrush."

Yet Francis seemed most comfortable in a pastoral role: explaining church teachings to his weekly public audiences, hearing confession, speaking to priests, and urging people to take care of those marginalized by society. He insisted that "priests must be close to the people." As pope, he continued the tradition he had started as a cardinal in Argentina, repeating Jesus' gesture of washing and kissing the feet of the apostles by doing the same to the feet of 12 male and female jail inmates, including Muslims.

Now, Francis leaves a somewhat divided Catholic faithful. Many loved and admired him, including millions of non-Catholics around the world, yet a vocal group within the church criticized him for his style and decisions. Even so, there is no doubt that, perhaps more than his contemporary predecessors, Pope Francis dedicated his days to outreach beyond the faithful, and worked hard to make the Church more relevant in an ever-changing world.

ABC News' Phoebe Natanson reports from Rome on papal and Vatican news.