Ever since the pandemic struck, our lives have changed. We are now governed by new rules – wear a mask, sanitize, maintain social distance. Although life is considerably different from what we are used to, most of us have adapted to the new changes. People still need to travel and experience new environments, and one solution is virtual tours -- which are the perfect way to ward off the COVID-induced boredom to which most of us have succumbed.

Even with the incredible speed in which he has managed to shake believers and skeptics alike, Francis has generally observed an equally orthodox attitude towards Catholic teachings, albeit with a somewhat more broadmindedness that borders on the reformist by the standards of the Church as we know it.  From a decisively focused stand on interreligious relations to controversial claims about contraception and homosexuality to political opinions about the Maldives, Francis both kindles and quenches hope with reverberating strength, which helps capture his image as a highly influential game-changer. 

Local bishops, not the pope, traditionally run church life and sometimes political life from Mexico to Argentina, but the reach of Pope Benedict XVI, who announced his retirement effective Feb. 28, has been unique. For decades, when Ratzinger’s shoe dropped, the tremor reverberated over Latin America, where half of the world’s 1 billion Catholics live. Amid speculation about who will be the next pope are suggestions that the time may have come for a Latin American prelate or someone from the global south.