Navarrosa, who is currently writing his thesis on the pope’s 2016 encyclical 'Amoris Laetitia,' recalls meeting Francis in 2021 and says he had hoped to meet him again. “I’m not worried about the future of the church, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit,” he says.

Pope Francis didn’t affirm same-sex marriage or lobby for ordaining women as priests. But he gently steered the Catholic Church in a more progressive direction while leading with compassion, openness and humility.