The Pope’s Foreign Policy

The Pope’s Foreign Policy

How Francis extended and transformed the Vatican’s global reach.

As a diplomat, Pope Francis won breakthroughs and faced frustrations

Pope Francis helped broker a U.S.-Cuba thaw and inked a deal with China on bishop appointments. His calls for peace and to fight climate change were not always heeded.

During his twelve years of pontificate, Pope Francis has also distinguished himself on the international scene. François Mabille, researcher at the CNRS, gives an update on this tumultuous mandate at the diplomatic level.

In February 2016, a statement by Pope Francis generated great global repercussions by publicly questioning the immigration policies of the then presidential candidate Donald Trump. During a pastoral visit to Mexico, the leader of the Catholic Church stated that “who thinks of building walls rather than building bridges does not act according to the Gospel.” The phrase was interpreted as a direct criticism of Trump’s proposal to build a border wa…