How Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church’s foreign policy
When the late Pope Francis first stepped on to the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica following his election 12 years ago, he remarked that he had been called almost from the “end of the world”. He was the first non-European pontiff since Gregory III, elected in AD731, who was of Syrian origin. And he was the first pope in history to come from Latin America.
This is not merely a biographical detail. His papacy was transformative in shaping a Catholic Church that was not focused solely on Europe. He shifted its attention from the old continent to the world’s peripheries, aspiring to create a truly global church.
Before his election, Pope Francis was called Jorge Mario Bergoglio and had, since 1998, held the office of Archbishop of Buenos Aires. In Argentina, he worked to expand and support the efforts of priests serving in the slums.
The Catholic Church has maintained a presence in the peripheries of Buenos Aires since the 1960s, when a group calledPriests for the Third Worldestablished itself in impoverished neighbourhoods. These priests advocated for the rights of their parishioners and preached liberation theology, a movement that aligns the Catholic Church with the struggles of marginalised groups.
The theme of the peripheries became a defining thread of Pope Francis’s papacy. Days before he became pope, Francistold the cardinalsthat elected him that the Church must “come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries”.
Without doing so, he warned, the Church risks becoming structurally disconnected from the ambivalent and contradictory processes that shape the modern global era.
Continues . . . .
For the full article by Massimo D'Angelo, visit the Conversation.
ENDS
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: 25/62
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2025 QS World University Rankings – the ninth year running.
Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2025 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
When the late Pope Francis first stepped on to the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica following his election 12 years ago, he remarked that he had been called almost from the “end of the world”. He was the first non-European pontiff since Gregory III, elected in AD731, who was of Syrian origin. And he was the first pope in history to come from Latin America.
This is not merely a biographical detail. His papacy was transformative in shaping a Catholic Church that was not focused solely on Europe. He shifted its attention from the old continent to the world’s peripheries, aspiring to create a truly global church.
Before his election, Pope Francis was called Jorge Mario Bergoglio and had, since 1998, held the office of Archbishop of Buenos Aires. In Argentina, he worked to expand and support the efforts of priests serving in the slums.
The Catholic Church has maintained a presence in the peripheries of Buenos Aires since the 1960s, when a group calledPriests for the Third Worldestablished itself in impoverished neighbourhoods. These priests advocated for the rights of their parishioners and preached liberation theology, a movement that aligns the Catholic Church with the struggles of marginalised groups.
The theme of the peripheries became a defining thread of Pope Francis’s papacy. Days before he became pope, Francistold the cardinalsthat elected him that the Church must “come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries”.
Without doing so, he warned, the Church risks becoming structurally disconnected from the ambivalent and contradictory processes that shape the modern global era.
Continues . . . .
For the full article by Massimo D'Angelo, visit the Conversation.
ENDS
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: 25/62
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2025 QS World University Rankings – the ninth year running.
Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2025 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
For the full article by Massimo D'Angelo, visit the Conversation.