World Religions › Contemporary › Second Vatican Council
Pope Francis
Pope 2013–2025 (died April 21, 2025); first from the Americas; succeeded by Leo XIV· Founder, prophet or teacher· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, pope from 2013 until his death in 2025: the first Jesuit pope and the first from the Americas.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Elected on March 13, 2013, he took the name of Francis of Assisi and chose simpler living quarters. He stressed mercy and the poor, issued 'Laudato si'' (2015) on climate and the environment, allowed non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples (2023), and ran a worldwide 'Synod on Synodality' (2021–2024) that consulted laypeople. In 2019 he signed a declaration on human fraternity with al-Azhar's Grand Imam. He died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, aged 88; American-born Leo XIV succeeded him.
Why it matters
He shifted the papacy's tone toward the poor, migrants and the environment and made Church leadership less European, while leaving core doctrine unchanged.
Life, legacy and sources
His encyclicals and other documents, Vatican records of his cardinal appointments, recorded interviews such as his 2013 'Who am I to judge?', and coverage of his dozens of foreign trips.
Questions and debates
Supporters saw overdue reform; critics, including some cardinals, saw doctrinal confusion. How much of his approach Leo XIV will keep is still unfolding.
Connections (2)
▸Pope Francis embodied Christianity's shift to the Global SouthMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Francis, from Argentina, was the first pope from outside Europe in about 1,300 years, reflecting that roughly 4 in 10 Catholics live in Latin America. He named cardinals from places like Tonga, Myanmar and Mongolia, so Europeans were a minority of the voters who chose his successor in 2025, and he stressed the poor and the 'peripheries'.
When and where
Elected March 13, 2013; cardinal appointments 2014–2024; trips including the Central African Republic (2015) and DR Congo and South Sudan (2023).
How do we know?
Vatican statistics, the published makeup of the College of Cardinals, and his writings such as 'Evangelii Gaudium' (2013).
Questions and debates
Whether the Global South focus will last under Leo XIV, an American who served long in Peru, is open; African bishops resisted some reforms.
▸Pope Francis renewed the spirit of Second Vatican CouncilMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Francis, the first pope ordained a priest after the council, saw his task as completing it. He promoted 'synodality' (bishops and laypeople deciding together), giving women a vote at the 2023–24 synod; restricted the old Latin Mass in 2021; and declared council popes John XXIII and Paul VI saints.
When and where
Rome, 2013–2025; 'Traditionis Custodes', July 2021; the Synod on Synodality, 2021–2024; canonizations in 2014 and 2018.
How do we know?
His documents and speeches, which repeatedly call the council's reforms irreversible, and the synod's published records.
Questions and debates
Whether he fulfilled or departed from the council is debated; traditionalists accused him of confusion, and Leo XIV's direction is still taking shape.