Five Years of the Francis Pontificate: A Look Back at Statistics

In the year 2018 alone, after his visit to Chile and Peru, the Holy Father has already traveled 30,334 kilometers (18,849 miles). This was his longest journey since his visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015. This year, the Holy Father will go to Switzerland on June 21 and to the Baltics from September 22 to 25.

The Bishop of Rome has also made 18 pastoral visits in Italy, the most recent of which brought him to the south of the peninsula on March 17, 2018, in the footsteps of Padre Pio (1887-1968), as well as 16 parochial visits in the city of Rome.

The sovereign pontiff has also published two encyclicals, Lumen fidei (2013) and Laudato si’ (2015), as well as two Apostolic Exhortations: Evangelii gaudium (2013) and Amoris Laetitia (2016). The pope has presided over 219 general Wednesday audiences and 286 Sunday recitations of the Angelus.

Since the beginning of his pontificate, 880 canonizations have been pronounced, placing Pope Francis far ahead of his predecessors – even John Paul II, who canonized 483 new saints, which was a record. This impressive number is due to the fact that he canonized the 800 martyrs of Otranto all together on May 12, 2013. These Christians refused to embrace Islam after their city was taken. The grand vizier, Gedik Ahmed Pacha, had them beheaded on August 14, 1480, out of hatred for the Faith.