International Desk, (EFE).- Over his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis made eight historic journeys to the Americas, leaving a profound mark on the Catholic Church’s relationship with the region.
As the first Latin American pope, he consistently championed the marginalized, indigenous communities, environmental protection, and called for an active, outward-looking Church.
His trips also forced the Church to confront its own crises, particularly regarding sexual abuse, and redefined the Vatican’s role in geopolitics.
“Francis shifted the Vatican’s focus to the Global South, challenging entrenched inequalities and environmental degradation,” said Scott Moringiello Chair of the Department of Catholic Studies at the University DePaul in Chicago to EFE.
Yet, his efforts also faced deep-rooted obstacles and limitations.
Migration and the dignity of the excluded
Migration was a recurring theme during Francis’ trips, particularly in Mexico and Panama.
In 2016, he celebrated Mass in Ciudad Juárez on the US-Mexico border, sending a direct message of solidarity with migrants risking their lives for a better future.
“No more death or exploitation! There is always a way out,” he declared, in a thinly veiled rebuke of anti-immigrant policies.
His visit coincided with the rise of US border enforcement debates, offering a counter-narrative focused on human dignity over political expediency.
At the 2019 World Youth Day in Panama, he urged young Catholics to reject the criminalization of the poor and to become “the now of God,” encouraging active engagement in societal transformation.
Confronting abuse, a turning point in Chile
Francis’ 2018 visit to Chile became one of the most challenging moments of his pontificate.
Initially defending a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse, the pope faced an uproar from victims and civil society.
The controversy forced a rare papal reversal, he publicly apologized and accepted the resignations of multiple bishops.
“I feel pain and shame for the irreparable damage caused to children by Church ministers,” he said in a landmark statement during the trip.
Honoring Indigenous voices in the continent
In 2022, Francis traveled to Canada on what he described as a “pilgrimage of penance.”
There, he confronted the Church’s role in running abusive residential schools that forcibly assimilated Indigenous children.
“With shame and unambiguously, I ask forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against Indigenous people,” Francis said during an emotional ceremony in Maskwacis, Alberta.
The trip highlighted the Vatican’s new approach to historical injustices, including symbolic gestures of reconciliation, such as participating in Indigenous ceremonies and listening directly to survivors’ testimonies.
He also asked for forgiveness for the sins of the Church in Bolivia.
“I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the Church itself, but for the crimes against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America,” he stated during his visit in 2015.
In Chiapas, Mexico, he asked for forgiveness from the indigenous peoples and decreed the official use of native languages in liturgical ceremonies. “No more death and exploitation! There’s always time to change, there’s always a way out, there’s always a chance!”, he said.
Despite his apologies and reconciliation with the indigenous communities, his role as superior of the Jesuits during the military coup d’état in Argentina on March 24, 1976 is one of the facts that loomed over his papacy.
He was accused of alleged collusion with the dictatorship, and was called to testify in a trial in 2010.
“In the end I was informed that there was nothing against me, and I was declared innocent,” explains Francisco in his autobiography.
Environmental stewardship and social advocacy
Environmental protection was another cornerstone of Francis’ Latin American travels.
During his 2015 visit to Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay, dubbed “the trip to the periphery”, he stressed the sacred bond between humanity and nature, calling the Amazon “a disputed land we cannot ignore.”
His encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015) framed environmental degradation as both a spiritual and social crisis, resonating deeply in the Global South.
In Peru’s Amazonian region, he warned against deforestation and exploitation of native lands: “The Amazon is being disputed from many fronts. We cannot look the other way.”
Meanwhile, Francis used his moral authority to diplomatic and political causes, notably facilitating the 2014 US-Cuba and encouraging Colombia’s peace process following decades of civil war, after which he visited the country in 2017. EFE
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