Pope Francis at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, on March 25, 2017. (Credit: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters.)
Here are ten significant moments that marked the 12 years of Pope Francis' pontificate, who died on Monday at 88 years old.
March 13, 2013: Jorge Bergoglio Becomes Francis
The first public appearance of Jorge Bergoglio after his election. Dressed in a simple white cassock without ornament, the pope "from the ends of the earth" asks the tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray for him while bowing, immediately marking a change in style.
March 28, 2013: He Washes Prisoners' Feet
A few days after his election, the pope surprises everyone during the Holy Thursday Mass in a Rome penitentiary. Breaking with tradition, he washes the feet of 12 young detainees, including two girls, one Christian and one Muslim, a first.
July 8, 2013: Lampedusa and Migrants for His First Trip
Taking everyone by surprise, the pope chooses the small Italian island of Lampedusa for his first trip, located off the Tunisian coast and a symbol of the massive arrival of migrants.
From a boat, he throws a wreath of white flowers into the Mediterranean Sea before reflecting. He will continually defend refugees fleeing war and poverty.
December 22, 2014: The 15 Ailments of the Curia
On the occasion of Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia, the central government of the Holy See, the pope lists the 15 ailments plaguing the high clergy. In front of astonished prelates, he mentions "spiritual Alzheimer's," rivalry and boastfulness, "the terrorism of gossip," and "worldly exhibitionism." The reform of the Curia was one of Francis' priorities, a field pastor who never appreciated the closed circles of Vatican bureaucracy.
February 12, 2016: Historic Handshake with Patriarch Kirill
A historic handshake: it's the first meeting between the two main leaders of Eastern and Western Christians since the schism of 1054.
Despite this rapprochement, the war in Ukraine starting in February 2022 considerably cooled relations with the Russian Orthodox patriarch, a close supporter of Vladimir Putin.
March 27, 2020: Alone in the Pandemic
During the Covid-19 pandemic hitting Italy hard, the pope issues an "Urbi et Orbi" blessing in an entirely empty St. Peter's Square due to lockdown, under the rain. This image of the solitary pope circled the world, symbolizing the health crisis that emptied the streets and squares of cities worldwide.
March 6, 2021: Face-to-Face with Shia Islam in Iraq
During a high-security trip to Iraq, the pope privately meets Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the principal authorities of Shia Islam.
In his numerous trips to Muslim-majority countries, Francis extended multiple gestures of goodwill toward his "brothers and sisters," signing a document on human fraternity with the imam of Al-Azhar, the highest authority of Sunni Islam, in 2019.
July 2022: A Historic Apology in Canada
During a "penitential pilgrimage" in Canada, the pope apologizes for the role of the Church in the violence against Indigenous peoples in residential schools for Native American children, where at least 6,000 deaths occurred between the late 19th century and the 1990s. He performs numerous symbolic gestures, such as kissing survivors and wearing a traditional headdress.
December 8, 2022: Tears for Ukraine
During the traditional annual tribute to the Immaculate Conception in Spain Square in central Rome, the pope struggles to hold back tears when mentioning "martyred Ukraine," ten months after the beginning of the Russian troops' invasion.
Reading his speech standing, he pauses, overcome by emotion, and remains silent for long seconds, his body shaking with sobs before resuming his speech, applauded by the crowd.
January 5, 2023: He Blesses the Coffin of Benedict XVI
At the foot of a fog-enveloped St. Peter's Basilica, the pope presides over the funeral Mass of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who died at 95, marking the end of an unprecedented coexistence between the two men in white.
The German theologian, who retreated to a monastery within the Vatican gardens, cast a shadow over his successor, even inspiring Hollywood, which created a film, "The Two Popes."