VATICAN CITY -- The former Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a Jesuit priest when the Vatican in 1989 imposed a similar crackdown on the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious orders, purportedly because it relied too heavily on Marxist interpretation of social ills - a victim of the Vatican's overall crackdown on liberation theology at the time in the region.

Bergoglio is no friend of liberation theology, the Latin American-inspired view that flowered in the 1970s and 1980s that Jesus' teachings imbue followers with a duty to fight for social and economic justice. He has disavowed it as a misguided strain of Catholic tenets.

But that doesn't mean he rejects the ultimate goal. Francis' addresses and homilies as cardinal often referred to the need for the church to focus on the world's economic failings and growing divides between rich and poor - a theme he made clear would be a priority now that he is pope in his homily at this week's installation Mass.

In that homily and in one two days earlier, Francis also gave a hint about how he might exercise the power that he now wields: with tenderness and mercy, not condemnation and punishment.

"I think we too are the people who, on the one hand want to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand at times like to find a stick to beat others with, to condemn others," Francis told parishioners at the Vatican's St. Anna church on Sunday. "And Jesus has this message for us: mercy. I think - and I say it with humility - that this is the Lord's most powerful message: mercy."

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a social justice lobby founded by nuns four decades ago, said "it can make a big difference" to have a pope who knows about life in religious orders.

"This is a time of wait and see. I've talked to a lot of people are more hopeful than they have been in a very long time," said Campbell, who was a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention that nominated President Barack Obama for a second term. "There is a huge hunger for spiritual leadership, real spiritual leadership, and I hope it goes to that and not to the internal political fights. ... This has always been about an internal political fight. It's never been about faith."

Campbell said no one expects church officials to ever announce they would drop plans for the overhaul, even if they decided the approach was misguided. "They'll never say this is a bad idea. That will never happen," Campbell said. "The most we can hope for is that the Italian method is followed where it quietly slips to the background and life goes on."

But Sister Mary Ann Hinsdale, a theologian at Boston College, a prominent Jesuit school in Massachusetts, argued that there is some evidence Francis could take a hard line with American sisters. Jesuits have a different approach to religious authority than many sisters do, grounded in obedience to a superior, she said.

"I would think Pope Francis would have the same understanding," Hinsdale said. Religious sisters' vow of obedience "operates more through the community, more democratically," Hinsdale said.

"He's clearly a theological conservative," Hinsdale said of Francis. "He's religious himself, however he's a Jesuit."

Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and two other bishops were named by the Vatican to oversee rewriting the Leadership Conference's statutes, review its plans and programs, approve speakers and ensure the group properly follows Catholic prayer and ritual. The conference represents about 57,000 sisters or 80 percent of U.S. nuns.

The Leadership Conference has argued that the Vatican reached "flawed" conclusions based on "unsubstantiated accusations." The group's officers have said they would participate in discussions with Sartain "as long as possible" but vowed they would not compromise their group's mission.

The LCWR declined a request for an interview but said in a statement their conversations with Sartain continue. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Vatican for the good of the whole church," the group said.

Greg Magnoni, a spokesman for Sartain, said the archbishop was not available for an interview. However, Magnoni said "no one knows at this point whether Pope Francis' election will have an effect" on the reform. At a Seattle news conference last week on Francis' election, Sartain said he had no reason to believe his role overseeing the changes would be different under the new pontiff.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "The Jesuit Guide" who has been an outspoken supporter of U.S. sisters in the wake of the Vatican crackdown, said Jesuits have traditionally worked closely with sisters and even helped found their religious orders.

"Since the pope's first homily focused specifically on 'tenderness,' we may see that his application of church rules will be a little more gentle," he said.

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Zoll reported from New York.