During the 12 years of his pontificate, Pope Francis, who died on Monday, April 21 -- Easter Monday -- made the cause of refugees and migrants his personal struggle. The pontiff often described himself as a migrant. Born into a family of Italians who emigrated to Argentina, "the archbishop of the poor," as his South American faithful nicknamed him, constantly advocated for the welcome of thousands of "brothers and sisters" throughout the world, regardless of their religion or administrative status -- statutory refugee or undocumented immigrant.

"How much contempt is sometimes fostered toward the weakest, the marginalized, migrants," he said in his last public speech, the day before his passing, calling for "the breaking down of barriers that create divisions." A phrase that today echoes his first motto as head of the Catholic Church, a few hours after his election on March 13, 2013: "How I would like a poor Church, and for the poor."

Read AlsoPope Francis advocated for rights of migrants and the LGBTQ+ community

In 2013, a first significant symbolic trip to Lampedusa

Very quickly, the most conservative members of the Vatican viewed this man with a wary eye: Francis, a reformer, preferred a sober apartment to the gilded apostolic palace. He regularly invited homeless people and prisoners to his table.

Unsurprisingly, the most traditionalist prelates grew tense at the announcement of the pontiff's first official trip. On July 8, 2013, taking everyone by surprise, the Pope chose to travel to Lampedusa, a small Italian island known as the gateway to Europe for sub-Saharan migrants crossing the Mediterranean from the Tunisian and Libyan coasts.

On the ground, his words were like a shockwave at a time when Europe was choosing to close its borders and take only minimal involvement in rescues of migrants dying in the Mediterranean, leaving that handled largely by NGOs. "Immigrants died at sea, in these boats which, instead of being a path of hope, were a path of death (…) In this world of globalization, we have fallen into the globalization of indifference. We are accustomed to the suffering of others; it doesn't concern us, doesn't interest us, it's not our business," he said.

From an Italian ship, the Pope then threw a wreath of white flowers into the Mediterranean before paying his respects. This first political gesture was followed by many others, which now constitute his legacy. 

Read AlsoPope Francis: 'Governments must unite to fight human trafficking'

In 2016, the Pope returned from Lesbos with 12 Syrian asylum seekers

Three years later, in 2016, the Pope visited the Greek island of Lesbos, another symbolic site of the migrant crisis facing the Old Continent. The Pope's visit was marked by an unprecedented gesture: he boarded 12 Syrian refugees on his plane. This was the first small-scale "humanitarian corridor" intended to set an example to politicians.

Welcoming him at the plane, Alexis Tsipras, the former Greek Prime Minister, thanked him for his "message of welcome, when other Christian leaders are building walls."

Since his visit, the situation remains dire on Lesbos, where in 2020, a massive fire ravaged the Moria camp, which housed 13,000 people (with a capacity of 3,000). Since then, two new camps have been built. The first, designed for 2,200 people, was temporarily established in Mavrovouni. The second, nicknamed "Moria 2.0" and with a capacity of 3,000, was built in September 2022 in Vastria, in the north of the island, fueling tension between the island's population and Athens.

In 2018, the Pope baptizes a Nigerian "hero"

On March 31, 2018, Pope Francis himself baptized an undocumented immigrant in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. John Ogah, originally from Nigeria, became a hero in Italy after confronting a robber.

In September of the previous year, the 31-year-old man had arrested an Italian man who had just committed a robbery -- armed with a meat cleaver -- in a supermarket in Rome. The undocumented immigrant, who had been begging in front of the establishment for several months, disarmed the thief, knocked him unconscious, and then waited for the police to arrive before slipping away -- fearing he would be arrested and deported himself, according to the newspaper La Repubblica.

Read AlsoPope Francis: Italy doesn't bear children, we need migrants

In 2019: The Pope visits Morocco

Pope Francis visited Morocco on March 30, 2019. He met with King Mohammed VI and senior religious leaders. During this time, he visited a reception center run by Caritas, which houses many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. "Here too, it appears necessary to pay particular attention to migrants in situations of great vulnerability, to the many unaccompanied minors, and to women. It is essential to be able to guarantee adequate medical, psychological, and social assistance to all to restore dignity to those who have lost it along the way," the Pope insisted.

In Morocco, the situation of undocumented sub-Saharan migrants remains very complicated. This is particularly true around the Spanish enclave of Melilla, where NGOs accuse the Moroccan authorities of having displayed an "unleashing of violence" on June 24, 2022. On that day, 27 migrants died. They were attempting to enter Spanish territory by climbing the high security fence that marks the border between the two countries.

Morocco is also criticized by human rights activists for its arrests of sub-Saharan migrants, who are then sent back to the south of the country, far from the Mediterranean coast.

In 2021, Cyprus thanks the Pope for the transfer of 50 migrants to Italy

The Pope visited Cyprus in 2021. This was his eighth trip to the region, and once again, he intended to focus on the migration issue. During this visit, the Cypriot authorities thanked him. "We would like to express our gratitude for the initiative to transfer 50 migrants from Cyprus to Italy," said Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia.

At the time, the Republic of Cyprus reported having the highest number of first-time asylum seekers in Europe and stated that some 10,000 irregular migrants had arrived in the first ten months of the year, most of them from the north of the island.

In Cyprus, Francis's speech made a lasting impression. "Coasts near us have become bridges for the slave trade. I have seen filmed evidence of this. They are places of torture, where people are sold. I say this because my responsibility is to help open your eyes."

The Pope referred to the slave sales taking place in Libya. He often denounces the plight of migrants in this country, which has struggled to rebuild since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011 and remains rife with violence from armed militias.

Testimonies of abuses, particularly sexual abuse, and torture against migrants have made headlines several times in recent years and are regularly documented by InfoMigrants.

Read Also'Restrictive laws don't save migrants', says Pope Francis

In 2021, Pope expresses sadness after shipwreck in Channel

That same year, the Pope expressed his concern over the tragic shipwreck in the English Channel that claimed the lives of 27 people on November 24. That day, only two people survived as they attempted to reach England from France by small boat.

On X, the Pope expressed his "sadness" over the fate of those drowned in the English Channel. He was also moved by the situation in the Mediterranean and the migrants enslaved in Libya.

In 2022, a donation for migrants stranded at Polish-Belarusian Border

The Pope, who always kept an eye on European news, led the Church into politically shaky territory in 2022: Polish-Belarusian tensions. But he limited himself to a humanitarian stance.

He donated 100,000 euros "to help groups of migrants stranded" on the border between Poland and Belarus. This donation also aimed to "help [the Catholic NGO] Caritas Poland address the migration emergency on the border between the two countries," the Dicastery (Ministry) for Promoting Integral Human Development, a Vatican body responsible for refugees, explained in a statement.

Since the summer of 2021, thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, have crossed or attempted to cross the eastern border of the European Union (EU) from Belarus via Poland. In this border area, Warsaw has installed a metal fence and deployed thousands of soldiers. There are numerous reports of migrant pushbacks and abuses.

In 2023, the Pope receives Pato, whose family died in the desert in Tunisia

The Pope received a man named Pato on November 17, 2023, at the Vatican. This Cameroonian had tragically lost his wife and six-year-old daughter in July of that year. They died of thirst in the desert between Libya and Tunisia, after being rounded up by Tunisian authorities.

Fati and Pato had left Libya and settled in Tunisia to raise their little girl, Marie. Fati and Marie were expelled from their home together and abandoned in the desert on the Libyan border.

In the summer of 2023, hundreds more sub-Saharan migrants were dumped in the desert by Tunisian authorities after arbitrary arrests in the cities of Sfax, Ben Guardane, and other towns across the country.

Read AlsoPope Francis calls on Europe to welcome migrants

In 2025, the Pope opposes mass deportations in the United States

In February, two months before his death, Francis condemned the mass deportations of migrants sought by US President Donald Trump, drawing the ire of the White House. Upon his election, the head of state promised the largest wave of deportations the country had ever seen.

Two months after criticizing these measures, the Pope briefly received US Vice President J.D. Vance on April 20, on the sidelines of Easter celebrations. The relationship was "cordial," according to a Vatican statement released after the meeting.

In an interview with Fox News in January, the US Vice President echoed a concept from Saint Augustine, stipulating that "one loves one's family, then one's neighbors, then one's community, then one's compatriots, and finally, the rest of the world." In response, Francis invited people to "meditate on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exceptions."