Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, leaves behind a legacy that is both deeply spiritual and profoundly missionary. His papacy was shaped not by pomp or power but by his tireless efforts to reach the peripheries—of society, of faith, of the human heart. The first pope from the Global South, the first Jesuit, and the first to take the name Francis after the Poverello of Assisi, he challenged Catholics to rediscover the essence of their baptismal call: to be missionary disciples.
As the Church begins to reflect on the gift of his leadership, it is worth remembering ten moments that capture the heart of his missionary legacy.
Pope Francis tosses a wreath of flowers into the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian island of Lampedusa in this July 8, 2013, file photo. The pope threw a wreath to honor the memory of immigrants who have died trying to cross from Africa to reach a new life in Europe. Pope Francis, formerly Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS photo/pool) (July 7, 2014) See POPE-LAMPEDUSA July 7, 2014.
1. The Trip to Lampedusa (2013)
Just four months after his election, Pope Francis traveled to Lampedusa, a small Italian island that had become a landing point—and graveyard—for migrants and refugees. He threw a wreath into the sea in memory of the thousands who had drowned, and condemned what he called the “globalization of indifference.”
“Who is responsible for the blood of these brothers and sisters?” he asked. “No one! We all respond like that: it’s not me, I don’t have anything to do with it. It’s the globalization of indifference.”
2. Evangelii Gaudium (2013)
More than a document, The Joy of the Gospel was a manifesto for a Church on mission. Francis called for a “pastoral conversion.”
“The Church which goes forth is a community of missionary disciples,” he wrote. “Mere administration can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be permanently in a state of mission.”
Pope Francis walks through the Holy Door after opening it to begin the Holy Year of Mercy at the start of a Mass with priests, religious, catechists and youths at the cathedral in Bangui, Central African Republic, Nov. 29, 2015. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano)
3. The Jubilee of Mercy Begins in Bangui (2015)
In a daring move, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of the Jubilee Year of Mercy not in Rome, but in the war-torn capital of the Central African Republic.
“Bangui becomes today the spiritual capital of the world,” he said. “All of us ask for peace, mercy, reconciliation, forgiveness and love.”
4. The Prayer for Peace with Peres and Abbas (2014)
After visiting the Holy Land, Francis invited Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to a prayer summit in the Vatican Gardens.
“Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict,” he said. “May the voice of all believers always be heard loudly and clearly, because without peace, there can be no future.”
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of Shiite Islam’s most authoritative figures, meets with Pope Francis March 6, 2021, in Najaf, Iraq. The pope was joined by Father George Ayoub, a translator from the Vatican Secretariat of State, Cardinal Louis Sako, the Chaldean patriarch, and Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
5. The Encounter with Al-Sistani in Iraq (2021)
During his historic trip to Iraq—the first ever by a pope—Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf.
“Fraternity is more durable than fratricide; hope is more powerful than death; peace more powerful than war,” he said during the trip. “May there be an end to acts of violence and extremism, factions and intolerance.”
6. The Document on Human Fraternity (2019)
Signed in Abu Dhabi with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, this document called for mutual understanding and peace among the world’s religions.
“Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved,” the document stated. “Religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility, and extremism.”
7. The Ecumenical Pilgrimage to South Sudan (2023)
In an unprecedented gesture, Pope Francis traveled to South Sudan with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
“We come as pilgrims of peace,” he said, “bringing the Lord’s peace to this land.” He added, “No more bloodshed, no more conflict, no more violence and mutual recrimination. Let us instead welcome one another and love one another as brothers and sisters.”
Pope Francis and Vincentian Father Pedro Opeka, founder of the Akamasoa “Community of Good Friends,” attend a meeting with members of the community in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Sept. 8, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
8. The Embrace of Children in Akamasoa, Madagascar (2019)
In a garbage dump turned model city built by missionary priest Fr. Pedro Opeka, Pope Francis met with children and praised the dignity of work.
“Poverty is not something inevitable; it is caused by selfishness,” he said. “This is a place of hope, where the dignity of work restores the dignity of people.”
9. The Launch of World Day of the Poor (2017)
Francis inaugurated this annual observance to ensure that the cries of the poor remain central to the Church’s life.
“Let us not love in words but with deeds,” he said. “The poor are not a problem: they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practice in our lives the essence of the Gospel.”
10. His Final Urbi et Orbi Blessing (2025)
Delivered on Easter Sunday, just one day before his death, Pope Francis spoke directly to the world’s suffering.
“Sisters and brothers, especially those of you experiencing pain and sorrow, your silent cry has been heard and your tears have been counted; not one of them has been lost.”
Each of these moments speaks to the heart of Pope Francis’ mission: to bring the light of the Gospel where it is most needed. At The Pontifical Mission Societies, we honor his memory by continuing this mission—by going forth, by lifting up the poor, by working for peace, and by proclaiming Christ’s love to the ends of the earth. May Pope Francis, the missionary pope, intercede for us as we carry on the work he held so dear.
