First, I greatly appreciate the fact that he really understood his ministry as a ministry. He expressly renounced privileges and accepted a lot of criticism or malice in return.
Then I was impressed by the fact that he tried to bring people and groups of people together in a genuine dialogue. He invited people to participate in the synodal process who were otherwise not represented, especially lay people in general and women in particular. With the help of a certain way of conducting discussions, he tried to lead the dialogue into greater depth, not to stick to exchanging blows, but to get to the bottom of the actual reasons and arguments.
I think he has already made it very clear that real changes are needed in the church. So far, in my estimation, he has not been very successful with this. But those who have a greater focus on the universal church may well see things differently. In purely human terms, in terms of his entire behaviour and the many signs that he has set, he has been pleasantly different from many previous popes.
I very much hope that his concern for renewal will be taken up and continued by his successor.
Sr Sabine Adam CJ
