Many liberals have hoped and conservatives feared that Francis is steering the church toward more accommodation of Western individualism especially on sexuality. Others would insist that Francis is not changing core Catholic doctrine but only urging a more pastoral versus dogmatic approach. Vigano recalls Francis telling him: “The Bishops in the United States must not be ideologized! They must be shepherds!”
But much of whatever Francis does is widely interpreted in the West through the prism of debates over sexuality, including his recent revision of church teaching on capital punishment. If he can adjust church doctrine on that topic where else will he try to adjust, some have fretted.