Pope Francis dies: an unconventional pontiff who sought to modernise Catholicism

Liam Temple, Durham University From the moment of his election in 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the man who became Pope Francis, proved himself to be unconventional. Shedding much of the formality of previous papal elections, he appeared for the first time on the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica in a simple white cassock without the red ermine-trimmed cape, known as a mozzetta, traditionally worn on such occasions. On his chest was the silver pectoral cross he had worn as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the gold cross worn by previous popes. His early demonstrations of unconventionality went beyond his...