ROME – Having been one of the most charismatic, towering and visible global figures for over a decade, there isn’t much that Pope Francis didn’t speak out about at least once, and there aren’t many causes he didn’t advocate, whether they be spiritual, social or political.

On practically every issue of modern importance – from personal conversion to nationalist populism, to the fragility of democracy, the abuse crisis and care of the marginalized – he has had something to say.

Yet of them all, there are a handful of issues that stood out as overarching priorities for the Argentinian pontiff which, if looked at in broad strokes, formed the backbone of much of his rhetoric and policies for the 12 years he was in office.

Here’s a rundown of what are arguably the top five themes of the Francis papacy:

A poor church for the poor

By now, Pope Francis’s story of how he chose his pontifical name is well-known. He was speaking to journalists just days after his election to the papacy March 13, 2013, when he said that it was his friend, the late Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who inspired it.

As the pope told it, once it had become clear that he’d been elected, Hummes, who was sitting beside him, whispered, “don’t forget the poor,” inspiring the newly elected pontiff to choose the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, dubbed the “poor man of Assisi.”

“Oh, how I would like a poor church for the poor,” Pope Francis said on that occasion. From that point, the saying became not only one of his most famous taglines, but it also grew to form the backbone of his own pontifical style and overall vision for the church.

From his simple white attire to the humble Fiat he buzzed around in, from his decision to pay his own hotel bill after his election and his choice of whose feet to wash every Holy Thursday, prioritizing women, migrants, the mentally disabled, and prisoners, a spirit of poverty underlined it all.

As a man who while archbishop of Buenos Aires regularly took the subway and walked the streets of the villas miserias, he consistently prioritized those on the margins, most prominently through his advocacy on behalf of migrants and refugees and of prisoners.

This was also evident in his foreign trips. Francis from the beginning made a pledge to visit countries that no other pope had visited, or which seemed small and unworthy of a papal visit, with a tiny Catholic flock, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina; Albania; Macedonia and Bulgaria; Georgia and Azerbaijan; and Myanmar and Bangladesh.

During his international trips, he always made a point of meeting with the most vulnerable members of society, including prisoners; migrants and refugees; abuse victims; street children in the Philippines; persecuted Christians and other minorities in Iraq; and victims of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

In between trips, he made a point of welcoming the poor into the Vatican for museum visits or beach days, and often advocated for the physically and intellectually disabled, asking that they be allowed to receive the sacraments. During the 2015-2016 Jubilee of Mercy, he visited the marginalized, sick, and poor every Friday.

His ‘preferential option for the poor,’ as it can be called, is further illustrated in his decision in 2018 to give his almoner, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, a red hat. Those perceived as occupying the lowest rung on the ladder, those who cannot advocate for themselves, were consistently among his top priorities, and will undoubtably be part of his lasting legacy.

Climate and the environment

In tandem with care and attention to the poor and marginalized was Pope Francis’s advocacy for the environment, the mistreatment of which he often said was a contributing factor to an array of problems, including migration, advocating for so-called “climate migrants,” as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

This was a key concern for Francis from the beginning, most prominently with the publication of his 2015 eco-encyclical Laudato Si, in which he made a sweeping condemnation of consumerism and what he said are irresponsible development models, and warned against the dangers of climate change and global warming, and urged the world to take immediate action.

He repeatedly voiced support for high-profile global climate summits such as the COP gatherings and he was even slated to attend the COP26 United Nations climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021 but was unable to go. He’d had invasive colon surgery several months prior.

He was later on the books to attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in 2023 but was forced to cancel the trip due to a respiratory infection.

Francis’s 2019 Synod of Bishops on the Amazon was largely focused on environmental issues and the need to protect the Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity and save it from slash-and-burn farming and erosive mining techniques that encroach on indigenous land, forcing many to flee their homes as companies plow further into the mineral-rich forest.

The pope also met with young climate activist Greta Thunberg and praised her youth-driven “climate strikes,” and during the COVID-19 pandemic he pinned the blame largely on irresponsible environmental habits and advocated for equitable distribution of vaccines.

He also consistently called for an end to the exploitation of the African continent , using vivid language during his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan when he accused extractive industries and wealthy corporations of “raping” the land beyond repair and harvesting all the wealth for themselves, leaving rich richer and the poor, poorer.

This type of advocacy from Pope Francis was among the most prominent of his papacy, and in all likelihood, will also be part of what he remains known for.

Synodality

Another key concept for Pope Francis was that of “synodality,” a buzzword in his papacy which, while still difficult for many to define, encompassed his vision for a welcoming and inclusive global church, which eventually became one of the most prominent aspects of this papacy.

Francis always used the word “synodality” to express a certain type of collegial and frank exchange in which decisions are made together.

Over time, “synodality” generally came to be understood as a collaborative and consultative style of management in which all members, clerical and lay, participate in making decisions about the church’s life and mission.

The word started to gain steam during the 2018 Synod of Bishops on youth and subsequently grew in prominence to such an extent that it was the main topic of reflection for a 4-year, multi-stage consultation process in the global church unfolding as part of Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality.

Characterized by different stages beginning with local, diocesan consultations with laypeople in parishes, and moving to a continental stage in which the summaries of those consultations are being discussed at a broader level, the process opened in 2021 and culminated with two Rome gatherings of bishops, one in October 2023, and the final gathering in October 2024.

Though many observers have argued that the synod ended with more of a whimper than a bang, the main stated goal was to make the church a more open, welcoming, and inclusive place, where everyone has a voice that is heard and where no one feels left out, and where decisions are not issued from on high by decree, but rather are made in consultation with the people.

In effect, synodality encompasses many of Pope Francis’s biggest priorities, from eradicating clericalism to empowering laypeople and youth, and ensuring that women have a greater role in the church, especially when it comes to leadership and decision-making.

Synodality for Pope Francis was the hinge on which the church should swing its doors open, and it was his method of implementing the Second Vatican Council, ensuring that the church is open, inclusive, and primarily, takes its cues from the people.

Economy

One clear and consistent refrain throughout Pope Francis’s years in office was his open criticism of free market capitalism, and his advocacy for a more just global system that centers less on profit and more on an equitable distribution of resources in service of the common good, and which benefits the poor.

Francis believed many of the social reforms he called for began at the economic level, and he pushed for vast changes to the global system in nearly all major speeches and documents throughout his papacy, from urging more sustainable development models in Laudato Si, to his calls for a revamped European economy based on integration and human dignity while receiving the prestigious Charlemagne Prize in 2016.

In that speech, the pope coined his famous phrase, “grandmother Europe,” saying the continent had forgotten its founding ideals and had grown tired and was in desperate need of new vitality, calling leaders to move “from a liquid economy to a social economy,” directed less at revenue and more at investing in people and fighting corruption.

His 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti on social friendship carries much the same tone, containing lengthy criticisms of populism, liberalism, and free-market capitalism, and avid support for multilateral efforts and policies that prioritize the most vulnerable, including migrants and refugees.

Pope Francis has also sought to enlist young people for the cause through his “Economy of Francis” event, held in Assisi in 2022 and which drew young economists and change makers from around the world to discuss the transition to a more peaceful and equitable economy prioritizing the poor and the environment.

It was originally set for 2020 but was rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic, with most discussions and working sessions leading up to it being held online. However, the roughly 1,000 youth who attended the in-person meeting signed a pact with Pope Francis in which they outlined their vision for an economy “of peace and not war,” and which is guided by a clear set of ethics prioritizing human dignity and the poor.

Although many would dispute the efficacy of his own overhaul of Vatican finances, which most would say had mixed success, Pope Francis’s push for the conversion of the global economic system remained a consistent priority.

Pastoral Conversion

Perhaps the most important theme of Francis’s entire pontificate was his push for pastoral conversion.

From his lengthy annual speeches to the Roman Curia, to major papal documents, and audiences and speeches with the general public, he consistently called believers to personal conversion and urged the church and its pastors to do the same.

Since the beginning, Francis pushed for this conversion by criticizing the church for remaining “closed in” on itself and by voicing his desire for “a church that goes out,” and is in touch with the people and their needs, rather than obsessing over trivial internal debates.

His whole pastoral strategy was aimed at helping the church become the “field hospital for the sick” he so frequently advocated for, rather than an exclusive club for perceived elites who follow all the rules and embrace every doctrine.

This desire for pastoral conversion was also seen in his lengthy, frank annual speeches to members of the Roman Curia, which he often used as opportunities to conduct a collective examination of conscience, diagnosing several spiritual “illnesses” he said the church suffered from and offering his own remedies, always stressing the need for conversion.

Francis wanted the church’s central governing body and its most exclusive club, the College of Cardinals, to be more international and diverse, and more focused on evangelization.

This desire was evidenced not only by his red hat recipients over the years, but also his writings in major documents such as his first apostolic exhortation in 2013, Evangelii Gaudium, or “The Joy of the Gospel,” in which he called believers to be “missionary disciples” in love with the Gospel, and his 2022 document reforming the Roman Curia, Praedicate evangelium, or “Preach the Gospel,” in which he introduced sweeping changes to the curia, creating a special department dedicated to evangelization and allowing laypeople to hold more prominent roles in leadership.

He consistently called the church to become more merciful and to spend less time tied up in theological debates and more time reaching out to wounded and suffering.

This was the upshot of his 2015 Jubilee of Mercy, during which he allowed all priests to absolve the sin of abortion and broadened access to indulgences, and it was the motivating factor behind his decision in the infamous footnote 351 of his 2016 document Amoris Laetitia, published after the 2014 and 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family, in which he authorized a cautious opening for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion.

It was also the motivation behind his streamlining of the marriage annulment process and was a major aspect of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.

Pope Francis ultimately saw it as his task to overhaul the church, further opening it to the world and making mercy and evangelization the driving force behind all of its actions, essentially implementing the vision of the Second Vatican Council and eradicating anything he believed got in the way of that.

Pastoral conversion was the backbone of it all, it was essential to implementing Francis’s overall vision, and was something he fought for until the very end.

A version of this article was published on March 3, 2023, under the title, “Ten years of the Francis papacy in broad strokes.”