What countries did Pope Francis visit in 2023 and what did he say?

Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. / Vatican Media. Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 30, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA). Pope Francis maintained a busy travel schedule in 2023, visiting six different countries on three separate continents despite being one of the oldest popes in Church history and enduring ongoing struggles with poor health. Francis turned 87 this month, and in March he celebrated his 10th year as pope. Although his year was marked by several hospital stays, struggles with bronchitis, and sciatica that often confined him to a wheelchair — as well as a canceled trip to Dubai for COP28 due to health issues — the pontiff still managed to make five international trips, called “apostolic journeys.”Here is where he went. Pope Francis meets young people and adults from the Diocese of Rumbek in Juba, South Sudan, on Feb. 4, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaAfrica: Democratic Republic of Congo and South SudanThe pope’s first apostolic journey of 2023 was to the African continent, where despite years of wars and ongoing persecutions the Church has seen its greatest growth and where regular Mass attendance is higher than anywhere else on the globe.Francis was in Africa for six days, Jan. 31–Feb. 5, during which time he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. While there, Francis spoke out against the violence racking the continent and against international powers seeking to exploit African countries for their gain.“Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: Africa is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered,” Francis said in his first speech in the DRC on Jan. 31. “I have greatly desired to be here and now at last I have come to bring you the closeness, the affection, and the consolation of the entire Catholic Church,” Francis also said. “I am here to embrace you and to remind you that you yourselves are of inestimable worth, that the Church and the pope have confidence in you, and that they believe in your future, the future that is in your hands, your hands.” On Feb. 1 the pope celebrated a special papal Mass in Kinshasa, the DRC’s capital city, which was attended by more than 1 million African faithful. Video taken before the Mass showed the massive crowds of Catholics dancing and singing songs, including a joyful chant of “Maman Maria” (“Mama Mary” in French), as they awaited Pope Francis’ arrival."Maman Maria!" ("Mother Mary!" in French)Video by @TurkElias who is on the ground in Kinshasa, DRC for Mass with Pope Francis pic.twitter.com/yBMG1Bktyj— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) February 1, 2023 Joyful scenes from colleagues on the ground in Kinshasa, DRC, where Pope Francis will soon celebrate Mass. Follow @TurkElias @Gianluca_Teseo and @cnalive for more! pic.twitter.com/kyFCiOHZVu— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) February 1, 2023 Europe: HungaryNext, Francis visited Budapest, the capital of the central European nation of Hungary, April 28–30.The pontiff’s journey to the post-Soviet nation that borders Ukraine was themed “Christ Is Our Future.”During the trip, the pope focused his addresses on the need for European nations to cooperate with one another and recapture a spirit of fraternal unity and pursue “creative efforts for peace.”Using the city of Budapest’s “Chain Bridge” as an example, Francis said the bridge “helps us to envision that kind of Europe since it is composed of many great and diverse links that derive their solidity and strength from being joined together. In this regard, the Christian faith can be a resource, and Hungary can act as a ‘bridge builder’ by drawing upon its specific ecumenical character. Here, different confessions live together without friction, cooperating respectfully and constructively.”He thanked the Church in Hungary for its “generous and wide-ranging service to charity” and for welcoming “with enthusiasm” many Ukrainian refugees.More than 4 million Ukrainians have crossed into Hungary since the beginning of the war with Russia. As Hungary grapples with a growing loss of faith and increasing irreligiosity, Francis encouraged Hungarian clergy in an April 28 address, saying that solutions will “come from the tabernacle and not the computer.”To combat “bleak defeatism and a worldly conformism,” Francis said, “the Gospel gives us new eyes to see” as well as discernment that enables us to “approach our own time with openness, but also with a prophetic spirit.”Pope Francis takes selfies with volunteers after the closing Mass for WYD2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 6, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaEurope: PortugalFrancis visited Portugal from Aug. 2–6 to participate in the 2023 World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon.While in Portugal, the pope met with a wide array of youth, government officials, and religious leaders, participated in an outdoor Stations of the Cross with an estimated 800,000 young people, visited the Shrine of Our Lady