In a Basilica of St. Peter resplendent after the restoration works of the Baldachin and Bernini's chair, Pope Francis said goodbye yesterday afternoon to the year 2024, accompanied by thousands of faithful, with the recitation of Vespers -prayer proper of the Liturgy of the Hours- and the singing of the Te Deum in thanksgiving.
It is understandable that the Roman Pontiff looks back on the year that has just ended with gratitude, because given the decline in his health that he suffered throughout 2023, more than one would have described some of the milestones he has reached in the last twelve months as improbable.
The Pope's health
The year 2024 began as a big question mark. Last February, a strong flu caused Francis respiratory problems and he went to the Gemelli Hospital on the Tiber Island to undergo a CAT scan to rule out possible pneumonia. This ailment was prolonged, preventing him in March, during Holy Week, from delivering the Palm Sunday homily and attending the annual appointment at the Colosseum for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. In the liturgical ceremonies of the last few days we have been able to see that, although he is trying to take care of himself, his voice is breaking and the discomfort is still not resolved.
The intense pain he suffers in his knee has also continued -for years he has been suffering from cartilage deterioration and arthrosis-, so that seeing the Pope being carried from one side to the other in a wheelchair has become a common sight. In any case, Peter's successor has not lost his porteño humor. When asked about a bruise that recently appeared on the right side of his face, he amusedly commented -after the December 7 consistory in which he named 21 new cardinals- that it was due to a punch thrown by a bishop whom he had not wanted to name a cardinal. In reality the bruise was the result of accidentally hitting his chin on the bedside table.
Writings, travels, the synod and the jubilee
If we have learned anything in these 11 years of his pontificate, it is that Francis is the Pope of surprises. Drawing strength from an iron will and with a lucidity that is surprising for a man of 88 years of age -let us not forget that he is the third longest-lived Pontiff in the history of the Church-, he has continued to guide the Church and has given us important moments. Among so many others, here are four of them:
1- Document Dignitas Infinita and the encyclical Dilexit Nos
On April 8, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith - headed by Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández - issued the Declaration Dignitas Infinita on human dignity, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN. Among other issues present in the public opinion, the Church declares in this document the sex change and surrogate motherhood as contrary to the dignity of the person.
October saw the release of the Encyclical Dilexit Nos on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. Francis wanted to revitalize devotion to the Sacred Heart, which has become the missing piece in a pontificate centered on mercy, the crowning of the Year of Prayer and the best precedent for the Jubilee of Hope.
2- The trip to Southeast Asia and to Luxembourg and Belgium
September was the month of travels, with two very different journeys. On the one hand, the Pope made an apostolic visit from the 2nd to the 13th to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. As he remarked during an audience on the Wednesday following his return, he thanked God for having been able to "do as an elderly Pope" what he "would have liked to do as a young Jesuit", that is, to be a missionary in Asia and preach the Gospel there.
Just two weeks later, from the 23rd to the 26th, he landed in Luxembourg and Belgium, two countries of ancient Christian tradition where the phenomenon of secularization is growing. The media described this trip as difficult, as the Pope had to face accusations of child abuse within the Church. In addition, after his visit to the Catholic University of Louvain, the academic center published a communiqué expressing "its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis on the place of women in the Church and in society" on the occasion of the speech he gave there.
3- Closing of the Synod of Synodality
After four years of work and a profound process of listening, prayer and sharing, the so-called Synod of Synodality came to an end in 2024 with the concluding assembly in October, at the end of which the Final document. This document called for greater participation of the laity in the life and structure of the Church, as well as greater transparency and accountability. The Pope ordered its publication as if it were a document of his own magisterium and asked the universal Church to put it into practice.
Dozens of lay men and women, priests and nuns participated in this synod as voting members, although Francis made it clear that it is not a "parliamentary assembly" with various factions, but an effort to understand the history, dreams and hopes of "brothers and sisters scattered throughout the world, inspired by the same faith, moved by the same desire for holiness".
4- Beginning of the Jubilee Year of Hope
The beginning of the Jubilee, with the motto "Pilgrims of Hope", was the great event with which Francis crowned the year that has just ended. The Pontiff celebrated the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica on the evening of December 24. He then celebrated Mass on Christmas Eve. He concluded his homily with these words: "Sister, brother, on this night the holy door of God's heart opens for you. Jesus, God with us, is born for you, for me, for us, for every man and woman. And, you know, with Him joy blooms, with Him life changes, with Him hope does not disappoint."
Two days later, on the 26th, he wanted to be present at the extraordinary opening of a Holy Door in the Rebibbia prison, the largest penitentiary center in Italy, located on the outskirts of Rome. The Pope opened the second Holy Door of the Jubilee 2025 in the presence of some 300 people, including inmates, their families, directors and prison staff. This year of indulgence and forgiveness for the whole Church will last until January 6, 2026.
