10 Events that marked Pope Francis’ 2024

Many memorable events related to Pope Francis happened this year. Here are a few that stand out.

During the first months of 2024, the Pontiff was plagued by a respiratory ailment that forced him to cancel numerous appointments and entrust the reading of his texts to collaborators. It took a long time to get back into shape.

At the end of March, to protect himself from the cold, he cancelled at the last minute his participation in the famous Good Friday Way of the Cross at the Colosseum. His white chair remained empty.

In the wake of these alarming episodes, rumors of his resignation and the forthcoming conclave were rife, and people were already speculating about the “papabili.” But his physical condition turned out to be astonishing in the autumn, proving indefatigable amidst his travels and engagements. He remained in good shape right up to the end of the year, although in early December he suffered a fall that left him with a bruise on his chin, and another bout of a "very bad cold" to wrap up the year.

Follow his health updates here.

In a book of interviews with a Spanish reporter, published under the title The Successor, Pope Francis reflects on his relationship with his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died on December 31, 2022. Dismissing those who would pit them against each other, the Argentine Pope asserts that, during the 2005 conclave, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was his “candidate.” He describes him as “a child prodigy of theology.”

However, the Argentine Pontiff reveals tension with the Pope's former secretary, Archbishop Gänswein. He also denounces a climate of overprotection maintained by Benedict XVI's entourage at the end of his life, suggesting that his doctors had put him in a sort of “police custody.” The Pope also reveals his desire for a simplified ritual for his own funeral, indicating that his tomb is already ready, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. 

Pope Francis visited the Venice Biennale, where he delivered a speech in which he affirmed that “the world needs artists.” In the Holy See’s pavilion, located in the prison on the island of Giudecca, the Argentine Pontiff greeted female prisoners and highlighted female artists such as Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois.

During a Mass, the Pope encouraged Venetians to protect not only the Serenissima's ecological heritage, but also “its human heritage.” He made two further trips to northeast Italy, to Verona on May 18 for a peace rally in the Arena, and to Trieste on July 7 for a meeting on democracy.

The 87-year-old Pope was in Bari for the G7 summit to highlight the urgent need to regulate artificial intelligence. Between two sessions of short bilateral meetings — the Pope was in talks with Presidents Macron (France), Zelensky (Ukraine), and Trudeau (Canada) — he took the floor.

He tried to break down the mechanics of AI and convince leaders of the need for political and legal action in the face of a “fascinating and formidable” tool. Since 2020, the Holy See has been invested in promoting an ethical code for AI. 

With 44 hours in the air and covering almost 20,000 miles, the September “grand tour” of Asia and Oceania broke all records for Pope Francis' travels. Even more astonishing: the nearly 88-year-old pontiff seemed invigorated by this journey.

In Indonesia, Francis encouraged a minority Church to find its place alongside the world's largest Muslim population. For the first Oceanic leg of his pontificate, in verdant Papua New Guinea, he became a missionary of peace preaching against the endemic violence ravaging the country. Then, he went in triumph to East Timor, a very Catholic country whose youth he praised. Lastly, he visited cosmopolitan Singapore, where he pleaded for harmony between religions and respect for migrants.

After a symbolic stopover in Luxembourg to greet Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Pope Francis traveled to Belgium, which proved to be one of the most difficult trips of his pontificate.

During their welcome speeches at the Royal Palace, the King and Prime Minister asked the Pope about the sexual abuse scandals committed by priests. After a lengthy meeting with some of the victims, the Pope changed the text of his homily at the Mass celebrated at the King Baudouin Stadium to ask the bishops to fight more effectively against this scourge.

At the end of the Mass, the Pope announced the opening of the process for the beatification of King Baudouin, who opposed the legalization of abortion. Pope Francis' “pro-life” stance earned him strong criticism during his visits to universities in Leuven, in Flemish-speaking Belgium, and Louvain-La-Neuve, in French-speaking Belgium.

Throughout October, the Pope presided over the second session of the Synod on Synodality.  During the event, 368 members from all over the world — 25% of whom were not bishops — worked together to reflect on a more participative and less clerical Catholic Church.

This session was intended to conclude a cycle initiated in 2021, but in reality the work is still in progress. The 10 working groups set up by Francis to study certain sensitive issues — sharing government, seminary reform, women's access to the diaconate, etc. — are due to deliver their conclusions next June. At the end of the Synod, the Pontiff decided to sign the Final Document of the Synod members, making it de facto part of his magisterium. There will be no apostolic exhortation.

For the third time, the Holy See and China renewed their 2018 pastoral agreement governing the procedures for appointing bishops in China. While the text remains provisional and secret, the pontifical diplomacy of Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin has achieved a concrete breakthrough: the agreement has been renewed for four years, rather than two.

After a tricky 2023, it seemed 2024 was a much better year for Chinese-Vatican relations. At the Vatican, general audiences are now also summarized in Mandarin; Chinese bishops took part in the Synod and a colloquium on the 100th anniversary of the “Chinese Council”; and the agreement led to the appointment of five new bishops.

The Pope continued to compose the college responsible for electing his successor by naming 21 cardinals, 20 of whom are under 80 and could therefore vote in the event of a conclave. In his 10th group of new cardinals, Francis continued to look toward the "peripheries," as he has since 2013.

While Africa remains under-represented (2 cardinals in this consistory), Asia continues to grow, accounting for 16% of the college, and even 18% if the Middle Eastern cardinals are included; Archbishop Dominique Mathieu of Tehran, Iran, is part of the latest group.

After 11 years of pontificate, of the current 140 cardinal electors, the Pope has appointed almost 80%.

The year 2025 is the next ordinary jubilee on the Church's calendar, after the Great Jubilee of 2000. The Holy Father has embraced the occasion, making it an opportunity to promote the theological virtue of hope.

On December 24, before Christmas Eve Mass, the Pope symbolically knocked on the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which opened before him. The images of the Successor of Peter in a wheelchair before the imposing doors made a contrast with the 2015 images of a more fit Pope Francis launching the Jubilee of Mercy. But on the morning of December 26, he managed to stand to open the Holy Door at the Rebibbia prison.

Standing or sitting, the Pope has constantly called for an embrace of hope, especially for young people, who, he says, need to see their future with possibilities and not give in to pessimism.