Hidden from view, did Scotland's shamed Cardinal watch last Wednesday's exultant Vatican pronouncement: Habemus Papam?

If Keith O'Brien did so, we presume it was with emotions in turmoil, for his is a name now forever associated with the breakdown of trust and fellowship between hierarchy at one level and honourable priests and laity at another, especially in light of The Herald's revelations this week. We know Pope Emeritus Benedict broke off from cloistered prayer at Castel Gandolfo to witness on television the elevation of the man who, in 2005, would have been Pope had not he, Joseph Ratzinger, emerged as the conclave's chosen one. So, if Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, didn't win the papacy then, why now?

Eight years ago the Vatican believed it imperative to continue the doctrinal orthodoxy of John Paul II. In doing so, either wilfully or through careless disbelief, the Curia (the papal civil service), neglected to grasp the gravity of clerical sexual abuse staining Catholicism throughout the world. Benedict, the introspective German scholar, was chosen to restore reverent, mystical worship to the centre of Catholic life, and this would prove his great success, especially with a young, dynamic generation. But attempts to reform a dysfunctional Curia, and "purify" the church of priestly abusers, defeated Benedict, contributing to his broken health and historic resignation.

This time, the cardinals knew there could be no delay in choosing a Pope who would radically reform a hierarchy whose scandalous cover-ups and cursory pursuit of the truth had exacerbated a church in crisis. From now on offending mitres must roll. And maybe Pope Francis of the poor, who eschews hierarchical grandeur, cooks his own meals, prefers the Vatican bus to chauffeured limousines and pays his own hotel bills, should ban mitres altogether. In a penitent church mitres seem little more than self-reverential status pinnacles which have gone to too many unworthy heads.

So, reform will dominate the agenda of this first New World Pope, the first non-European pontiff for almost 1300 years, the first trained as a chemist, the first Jesuit to be called Holy Father, the first to take Francis as his papal name in remembrance of Francis of Assisi, the humble, barefoot monk and national saint of Italy. A Pope who believes in spirituality rather than hard power.

But here, too, remains doctrinal orthodoxy, so no married priests, no women priests, no gay marriage, no change on abortion or euthanasia. On contraception Benedict latterly conceded that condoms could be used to prevent infection, although for decades much of the laity has ignored the hierarchy's prohibition of artificial birth control just as many have ignored any fire and brimstone teaching against homosexuality.

Yet the church now has a Pope who, at a Buenos Aires hospice, kissed the feet of HIV victims. So, a man of active compassion whose stripped-down style affirms him at the cutting edge of social justice for the world's impoverished billions, those robbed of human rights. Here's a final thought: should Francis, aged 76, follow Benedict's precedent by retiring in eight or so years – when Benedict might still be alive – and the papacy's huge burden would be shouldered by another. In theory that would mean a trinity of pontiffs. The Catholic in the pew lives in extraordinary times.