This Wednesday, March 13, Pope Francis celebrates 11 years since being elected as the Successor of Peter, a period defined by his constant call for mercy, for the Church to be “outgoing,” and for synodality.
In these 11 years, since March 13, 2013, when he first appeared on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the faithful gathered in the square, Pope Francis has begun a new chapter in the Church’s recent history, with initiatives such as the reform of the Vatican Curia as a key milestone.
During this time, the Pope has published three encyclicals: Lumen fidei (June 29, 2013), Laudato si’ (May 24, 2015), and Fratelli tutti (October 3, 2020). He has also authored seven apostolic exhortations: Evangelii gaudium (November 24, 2013), Amoris laetitia (March 19, 2016), Gaudete et exsultate (March 19, 2018), Christus vivit (March 25, 2019), Querida Amazonia (February 2, 2020), Laudate Deum (October 4, 2023), and C’est la confiance (October 15, 2023).
Furthermore, he has enacted 39 apostolic constitutions, 97 apostolic letters, and 71 motu proprio, and penned numerous letters and pontifical messages.
A hallmark of his pontificate is an intense effort to publish magisterial documents. Additionally, the Holy Father has embarked on 44 international trips since his appointment, the most recent being to Marseille (France) on October 15, 2023, for the conclusion of the “Mediterranean Encounters.”
Pope Francis has created 133 cardinals in nine consistories and canonized 912 saints, notable among whom are Popes St. John Paul II, St. John XXIII, St. Paul VI, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. Óscar Romero. He also convened the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015, the Synod on Young People and Vocational Discernment in 2018, the special Synod for the Amazon in 2019, and the first session of the Synod on Synodality in 2023.
Last year, in an interview marking ten years of his pontificate, the Holy Father remarked that “being Pope is not an easy job. Nobody has studied beforehand to do this.”
“But after the resurrection, Jesus chose [Peter] again. That is the Lord’s mercy towards us and also towards the Pope. ‘Servus inutilis sum’. I am a useless servant, as St. Paul VI wrote in his Thoughts on Death,” He further emphasized that in this ministry, “it is necessary to tune in with the Lord, not with the world.”
