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Pope Francis: His pontificate in numbers
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 21, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 21, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, appointed 108 cardinal electors, made 47 foreign trips, created over 900 new saints, and wrote four encyclicals.
(Corrects cardinals section to say cardinal electors appointed by Pope Francis are 108 and not 109)
ROME (Reuters) -Here are some statistics about Pope Francis, whose death at the age of 88 was announced by the Vatican on Monday.
ELECTION
The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope on March 13, 2013. He was the 266th pope and the first from Latin America. He was the first pontiff to take the name Francis.
DURATION
Francis reigned longer than the 7.5-year average length of the previous 265 pontificates. He was also the second oldest pope in history. The last sitting pontiff to have lived longer was Leo XIII, who was 93 when he died in 1903. Before him, there is no verifiable record of an older man having served as pope.
Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, died at the age of 95, but he was 85 when he retired as pope.
CARDINALS
There are currently 252 cardinals, the red-hatted "princes of the Church", who advise the pope, run major dioceses around the world and often lead powerful departments within the Vatican bureaucracy.
Currently, 135 cardinals are aged under 80 and thus eligible under Church law to enter a conclave to elect a pope after Francis dies or retires. They are known as cardinal electors and Francis appointed 108 of them. The other electors were appointed by his predecessors.
FOREIGN TRIPS
Francis made 47 trips outside of Italy, visiting more than 65 states and territories, clocking up more than 465,000 km (289,000 miles).
He visited Brazil in 2013.
In 2014, he was in Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, South Korea, Albania, France, Turkey.
In 2015, he was in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Cuba, the United States, Kenya, Uganda, the Central African Republic.
In 2016, he was in Mexico, Greece, Armenia, Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Sweden.
In 2017, he was in Egypt, Portugal, Colombia, Myanmar, Bangladesh.
In 2018, he was in Chile, Peru, Switzerland, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.
In 2019, he was in Panama, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Thailand, Japan.
In 2020, he made no foreign trips.
In 2021, he was in Iraq, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus.
In 2022, he was in Malta, Canada, Kazakhstan, Bahrain.
In 2023, he was in Congo, South Sudan, Hungary, Portugal, Mongolia, France.
In 2024, he was in Indonesia, Singapore, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Belgium, Luxembourg and the French island of Corsica.
He made around 37 trips in Italy, starting with the island of Lampedusa, a landing point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean en route to Europe, in July 2013.
SAINTS
Francis created more than 900 new saints, including his predecessors John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI, as well as Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was killed in 1980.
The figure includes the Martyrs of Otranto, residents of a southern Italian city slain by Ottoman troops in 1480. The Vatican says they numbered about 800.
He beatified more than 1,350 people. Beatification is the last step before sainthood.
ENCYCLICALS
An encyclical is the most important form of papal document.
Francis wrote four, starting in 2013 with "Lumen Fidei" (Light of Faith) on the importance of Christian faith, partly written by his predecessor Pope Benedict.
In 2015, he released "Laudato Si" (Praised Be), which called for urgent action on climate change. He updated this work in 2023, with an Apostolic Exhortation, Laudate Deum (Praise God), where he appealed to climate change deniers and foot-dragging politicians to have a change of heart.
In 2020, his Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All) tackled the issue of solidarity among people in the post-pandemic world.
In 2024, his Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us) urged Catholics to abandon the "mad pursuit" of money and instead devote themselves to their faith.
He also wrote numerous other major documents, such as Apostolic Constitutions and Apostolic Exhortations.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, Philip Pullella, Crispian Balmer and Joshua McElweeEditing by Janet Lawrence and Frances Kerry)
The article provides statistical insights into Pope Francis' pontificate, covering his appointments, travels, and contributions.
Pope Francis appointed 108 cardinal electors during his pontificate.
Pope Francis made 47 trips outside of Italy, visiting over 65 states and territories.
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