Since yesterday, the Catholic Church has been in mourning. On April 21, 2025, Pope Francis passed away after an 12-year pontificate that began on March 13, 2013.
Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was born on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He came from the Jesuit Order and was the only Jesuit in the history of the Church to sit on the Chair of Peter. He chose his name, Francis, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, wanting to imitate the spirit of simplicity, peace, and care for the poor. He was the first non-European pope in over 1,200 years and the first pope from South America.
Francis has always tried to stay close to people. Known for his straightforwardness, shortening distances, and need for contact with the most needy and the weakest, during his pontificate he made a number of important pilgrimages, including over 40 foreign pilgrimages, including to to the Holy Land, the USA, Iraq, Africa, Asia.
During his pontificate, Francis visited three cities of the Shrines of Europe: Loreto (Italy), Częstochowa (Poland) and Fatima (Portugal) twice. Each of these trips was not only a spiritual event, but also an opportunity to remind the world of the importance of prayer, peace and devotion to the Mother of God.
The Pope arrived in Częstochowa on July 28, 2016 on the occasion of the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland and on the occasion of the World Youth Day, which took place in Krakow. Around 300,000 people gathered around the Sanctuary of Jasna Góra during mass on the Jasna Góra meadows.
In 2017, the Pope went to Fatima, where he stayed on May 12 and 13. The visit was connected with the centenary of the apparitions of Fatima and gathered almost half a million faithful from all over the world in the square in front of the Chapel of Apparitions.
The trip to Fatima was one of the most important moments of Francis' pontificate. The Pope came there as a pilgrim of peace and hope and the main point of the pilgrimage was the Holy Mass in the square of the sanctuary, during which he canonized two shepherds - Jacinta and Francisco Marto.
On March 25, 2019, Pope Francis visited Loreto, where he celebrated the celebration of the Annunciation of the Lord. Around 10,000 faithful gathered around the Sanctuary of the Holy House. Pope Francis came to Loreto to entrust young people, families and vocations to Mary on the day of the Annunciation. In Loreto, the Holy Father signed the apostolic exhortation Christus vivit, a document summarizing the Synod of Youth, one of the most important documents of the entire pontificate.
On August 5, 2023, the Pope returned to Fatima, on the occasion of the World Youth Day, which took place in Lisbon. It was a short but very symbolic pilgrimage. The Pope did not celebrate Mass, but prayed in silence before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and recited the rosary together with the youth and the sick. About 200,000 young people came to meet the Holy Father. We wrote about it here.
Pope Francis will certainly be remembered as the Father of the Church of the poor, the suffering and the excluded. He was a pope who listened and asked questions, not just taught.
Photos: Łukasz Stacherczak, Częstochowa City Hall, Loreto City Archives, Ourem City Archives
