Francis at 5: Paradigm shift in mercy, migrants and marriage

VATICAN CITY – The humble empathy and the ease with which he walks in others' shoes has won Pope Francis admirers around the globe and confirmed his place as a consummate champion of the poor and disenfranchised.

But as he marks the fifth anniversary of his election Tuesday and looks ahead to an already troubled 2018, Francis faces criticism for both the merciful causes he has embraced and the ones he has neglected. With women and sex abuse topping the latter list, a consensus view is forming that history's first Latin American pope is perhaps a victim of unrealistic expectations and his own culture.

Nevertheless, Francis' first five years have been a dizzying introduction to a new kind of pope, one who prizes straight talk over theology and mercy over morals.