The Pope's praxis and deciding whether it is helpful or not

One way the average Christopher and Christine Communicant can take the measure of a Pope's praxis is to use the definitional standard that can be found in the old Catholic Encyclopedia:

He is to be the principle of unity, of stability, and of increase. He is the principle of unity, since what is not joined to that foundation is no part of the Church; of stability, since it is the firmness of this foundation in virtue of which the Church remains unshaken by the storms which buffet her; of increase, since, if she grows, it is because new stones are laid on this foundation.