Pope Francis Took Catholicism Global, Breaking Tradition and Borders

Pope Francis' twelve-year run as head of the Catholic Church has been anything but quiet. His papacy is remembered for shaking up expectations, challenging tradition, and, more than anything, pushing the Church way beyond its usual strongholds in the U.S. and Europe.

Intent on rewriting the Church's global reach, Francis made a point of appointing cardinals from 24 countries that previously didn’t even have a seat at the table. According to Tim Gabrielli, a Catholic intellectual traditions professor, this was a deliberate move, spotlighting communities often overlooked in Catholic power circles. Those new cardinals are now quite literally putting their countries on the spiritual map.

This isn’t just about spreading influence, though. Francis has been drawing attention to the Church's fastest-growing regions, particularly Africa, reminding everyone that the future of Catholicism might be a lot more southern hemisphere than anyone in Rome—or New York—expected.

Back in 2017, Francis also called together bishops for a Synodal Assembly to discuss the Amazon and climate change, making it clear that he wasn’t content to just talk about doctrine. He wanted the Church to pay attention to economic exploitation and environmental protection, especially in places seen more as resource banks than homes to millions of people.

His very first words as pope in 2013, greeting Rome as the bishop “from the end of the world,” set the tone for a papacy that would leave no corner of the world unacknowledged. As the first pope from the Global South—born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina—Francis embodied this new direction in both word and action.

Gabrielli points out that Francis’ push to internationalize the Church is planting seeds that his successors will have to nurture, especially in regions sometimes dismissed as "flyover countries". The Church in the U.S., he adds, might have to get used to sharing the spotlight.

With every trip to a forgotten corner and every new cardinal from a new country, Francis is making sure the Catholic Church looks a lot more like the world it claims to serve. Whether you see that as progress or heresy probably depends on where you’re sitting—or kneeling.