Francis is effect, not cause, IMO.
There IS a problem with the Church. I’m not smart enough or knowledgeable enough to describe it clearly, I see it sort of “through a glass, darkly”.
But look at Quebec, and now Ireland. When the outward structures of the Church give way, the Christian faith of the congregations disappears in a heartbeat. Who would have predicted in 1965 that Quebec would become a leading citadel of secular hedonism? Who would have predicted in 1995, or 2000 for that matter, that the leading electoral criterion to become Prime Minister of Ireland would be being an out gay man of Indian descent?
Isn’t that backwards? Isn’t it the destruction of the Faith that leads to the destruction of the outward structures?