When elected to the papacy, Pope Francis became the first pope born or raised outside of Europe since the 8th century. After battling a severe illness as a young man, he joined the Jesuit order in Argentina. However, it is his roots in Latin America that signaled one particular change in the Catholic Church.
With the seat of the Holy See located squarely within the borders of Europe, historically, most of its popes hailed from that continent, too. That is until Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis the First in 2013 — a point of pride for Catholics in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"I knew Pope Francis, at the time named Bergoglio, many years ago. I knew him when he washed feet in the neighborhood for Holy Week," said Claudia Doldan, an Argentinian Catholic.
Another Argentinian Catholic, Maria Lopez, also recalled seeing the Pope during his early years in the priesthood.
"I saw him when I was little — when I was a little girl — and he would give masses in this church," Lopez said.
Pope Francis' rise from there to eventually lead the Vatican was seismic, experts say.
"The election of Pope Francis signaled a very significant, monumental change in the Catholic Church. With the election of Pope Francis, the Catholic Church really became a church open to all peoples or moved more in that direction because it began to recognize that the majority of the Catholics were now in the global South," said Father Allan Figueroa Deck, Distinguished Scholar of Theology at Loyola Marymount University.
RELATED STORY | From Buenos Aires to Rome: The life of Pope Francis
In all, there are 1.36 billion Catholics around the world. According to the Vatican, nearly half — 48 % — live in the Americas. However, the increased attention on Catholics in Latin America brought by Pope Francis's time as pontiff hasn't necessarily translated into a growing flock within the Hispanic community in the United States.
A 2022 study by the Pew Research Center found that 43 percent of Hispanic adults in the U.S. identify as Catholic. That's down from 67 percent in 2010, before Pope Francis' election. The study also found a gap when it comes to Catholicism among Hispanic immigrants versus those born in the United States. Among Hispanic immigrants, 52 percent identify as Catholic, but for Hispanic adults born in the U.S., only 36 percent identify as Catholic.
Experts say trying to grow the numbers of Catholic Hispanics and Catholics in the Americas is not an easy task.
"The world in which we live, and Latin America is included in it, is a world that's characterized by pluralism," Father Figueroa Deck said. "People are being exposed to new ideas and new attitudes that sometimes traditional religion has not been able to work with very well or been able to accept very much or understand adequately."
This is a challenge that remains and one that now awaits the next pope.
Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world, followed by the Philippines and the United States. Where the Catholic Church is seeing the most growth, though, is on the continent of Africa, which is now home to nearly 330 million Catholics. Given where the church's numbers are growing, some Catholics are now wondering if the next Pope could potentially hail from Africa or Asia.
