Pope Francis is known for having a simpler and less formal approach to the papacy most notably by choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors.

Having been elected in 2013, Pope Francis’ stance on LGBT, women’s rights, atheism and evolution were so mind-blowingly revolutionary that many people saw him as the single greatest change the controversy-ridden Catholic Church has seen in many centuries.

Last month, Pope Francis visited the island of Sri Lanka and he was taking his message of peace and tolerance with him to the war-torn country. During the Pope’s visit, he focused on peacemaking and unification rather than criticizing the various factions with the nation.

With this goal in mind, Pope Francis addressed a multi-faith coalition in Sri Lanka. The pope’s presence is also significant because it marks the first time the pope has visited the island since the end of the 26-year civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels.

The last time a pope made the visit, he was boycotted by the Buddhist leaders. This time, however, they welcomed Pope Francis with open arms.

His visit to the Philippines made some worry about his sentiments.

The Philippine Catholic church is already staunchly opposed to birth control. Before a crowd of Filipino Catholics, the Pope reinforced a locally unwavering church attitude and issued a condemnation on modern birth control methods.

Interestingly, this comes shortly after historic promises that the Catholic Church will once and for all ease up on its hardened objection to birth control and contraception.

Early last year, The Vatican admitted most Catholics do not follow its teaching on sex and contraception as officials said they will not “close our eyes to anything” when it debates the issues in the coming months. The Church conceded its rulings on issues including contraception and sex before marriage were “commonly perceived today as an intrusion in the intimate life of the couple”.

My crystal ball tells me that the only strength the Catholic Church has is sticking to its beliefs. Water them down in any way and it is on a slippery slope to extinction. Whether people of the 21st century are prepared to follow the Church dictates on contraception or not, they are there.

All any religion can do is to offer guidelines, it is up to us if we follow them. Take away the advice, away goes the religion.

Sex scandals are not the only thing to weaken The Church’s moral credibility. Education, as opposed to indoctrination, critical thinking and objective reasoning are the things that weaken The Church’s credibility, morale or otherwise. It’s time for the human race to leave such infantile thinking behind.

Own your mind, own your thoughts and be a decent person not because you believe you are being judged by some invisible super-being but because life tends to be much better when you’re not being dysfunctional and toxic.

With all that said, I think Pope Francis is doing the right thing by uniting the world’s religious leaders and the Pope should call for Catholics to take prominence on the world stage as the moral authority.