Francis of Assisi received the mission statement to rebuild the Church and rebuilt with his own hands the Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love of the Porziuncola. He was later able to transmit his message of poverty to the whole Church.

On March 13, 2013, the first non-European pope was elected: American and Latin American, to be precise. Arriving "almost from the end of the world," as he introduced himself on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, he has set out to reform the Church in the footsteps of St. Francis, Vatican II and his predecessors.

Many of the more than 1.2 billion Catholics have regained pride in their faith, and a countless issue people are once again interested in the message of Jesus. Bergoglio's simplicity and evangelical style, his vocation for the poor and his commitment to show a merciful and "going out" Church, have achieved the so-called "Francis effect" all over the world. Even in places where Christians are a minority, such as North Africa, his gestures are followed with attention. Santiago Agrelo, Archbishop of Tangier, said: "His words touch the hearts of those who believe and those who do not believe". Being Catholic is "back in fashion", say the Romans themselves with their usual irony "in piazza di san Pietro".

Francis is carrying out the reform of the curia in the eternal city, which must be followed by dioceses all over the world. In these two years he has strengthened control over the pederasty cases and over Vatican finances. A reform that is a cleanup. To help him in this task he has created a committee of cardinals with nine cardinals from the five continents. He expressed his vision of the Church with one of his happy images: "like a field hospital after a battle. How useless it is to ask a wounded person if his cholesterol or sugar levels are high! It is necessary to treat the wounds. We'll talk about the rest later.

Francis has emerged in these two years as an undisputed spiritual leader, looked upon with sympathy also by other Christians: Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants. This good image has facilitated, for example, the mediation between Cuba and the United States, achieving the normalization of relations. His next coup will be the encyclical dedicated to ecology and the environment, possibly published before the middle of the year. So stay tuned to your screens.