Pope Francis’s Pontifits in Figures
Francis’s Pontifics has been longer than the average duration of the previous 265 papal pontifications – seven and a half years. He was also the second oldest pope in history. The last pope he outlived was Leo XIII, who was 93 years old when he died in 1903. Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, died at the age of 95, but was 85 when he decided to withdraw from the papacy.
Former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergolio was elected Pope on March 13, 2013. He was the 266th pope in the line and the first of Latin America. He is the first pope to be named Francis. He died today at the age of 88.
The Vatican currently has 252 cardinals, the so -called « princes of the church » for which the red hats of the head are characterized. They advise the Pope, lead the great world dioceses and often manage powerful departments in the Vatican bureaucracy.
At this point, 135 cardinals are under 80 and, under church law, are eligible to enter the conclave for Pope’s choice after Francis’ death or retirement.
Trip abroad
Francisk was on 47 trips outside Italy, visited more than 65 countries and territories and traveled more than 465,000 kilometers. He visited Brazil in 2013. In 2014 he stayed in Jordan, Palestinian territories, Israel, South Korea, Albania, France and Turkey.
In 2015, he traveled to Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Cuba, USA, Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. In 2016 he was in Mexico, Greece, Armenia, Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Sweden.
In 2017 he visited Egypt, Portugal, Colombia, Myanmar and Bangladesh, and in 2018 visited Chile, Peru, Switzerland, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In 2019, he was in Panama, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Thailand and Japan. In the year of the Pandemic Kovid-19, 2020, he did not travel abroad.
In 2021 he was in Iraq, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus, and in 2022 in Malta, Canada, Kazakhstan and Bahrain. In 2023, he visited Congo, South Sudan, Hungary, Portugal, Mongolia and France.
In 2024, he was in Indonesia, Singapore, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Belgium, Luxembourg and the French island of Corsica. He has made about 37 trips to Italy, starting in July 2013 with the island of Lampedusa, the point of downloading migrants crossing the Mediterranean on their way to a better life in Europe.
Saints
Francis has named more than 900 new saints, including his predecessors John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI, as well as Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romer, who was killed in 1980.
This figure also includes the martyrs of Oranto, residents of the southern Italian city that were massacred by Ottoman troops in 1480. The Vatican says there were about 800. It has declared more than 1,350 people blessed. Beatification is the last step before the man is declared a saint.
Encyclick
Encyclic is the most important form of a papal document. Francis wrote four of them, starting in 2013 with « Lumen Fidei » (« Light of Faith ») for the meaning of the Christian faith. Part of that encyclical began his predecessor, Pope Benedict.
In 2015 he announced the « Laudato Si » (« Praise to You »), calling for urgent action for climate change. He updated this work in 2023 with the apostolic impetus, Laudate Deum (« Thank God »), in which he called on all those who deny and deny climate change, as well as politicians who act too slowly, to change their minds.
The 2020 Fratelli Tutti (« We’re All Brothers ») is the third Encyclick of Pope Francis, written in the eighth year of his pontification and concerns issues of solidarity among people in the world after the pandemic.
In 2024, in an encyclical entitled « Dilexit Nos », he urged Catholics to stop « the foolish search » for money and instead of dedicating themselves to their faith. He also wrote many other important documents, such as the apostolic constitutions and the apostolic warnings.
