Pope Francis on a go to to Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, in September 2015.
Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Picture/Getty Photos
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Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Picture/Getty Photos
Earlier than turning into pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio had traveled little or no.
As Pope Francis, he turned a world participant, preferring to go to what he referred to as the “periphery” of the world, in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
His travels included visits to Myanmar, Bangladesh, Japan, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Uganda, Madagascar, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Ecuador, Chile and Cuba, amongst different international locations.
He helped restore relations between the U.S. and Cuba in the course of the Obama administration.
And his watchwords have been “encounter,” “dialogue,” “reconciliation” and “construct bridges, not partitions.”
Interfaith dialogue was one of many pillars of his papacy — he solid nearer ties with the Orthodox Church, Protestants and Muslimsand he continued the Vatican’s good relations with Jews set forth by St. John Paul II.
Francis had no qualms about delivering overtly political messages.
Accepting a prestigious European prize in 2016, he sharply scolded the European Union for its remedy of migrants and fraying sense of unity.
“I dream of a Europe the place being a migrant will not be against the law. … I dream of a Europe that promotes and protects the rights of everybody,” he stated.